The Blacklight is the Amsterdam News’ investigative unit. We are dedicated to exposing wrongdoing and uncovering the truth wherever it may be. We are focused on stories that impact communities of color in the New York region and beyond.
Damaso Reyes – Investigative Editor
Damaso (he/him) has been a journalist and contributor to the Amsterdam News since 1996. He has been published by: The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Magazine, Der Spiegel, KSFR radio, the Miami Herald, Forbes.com and The Irish Times. Previous assignments and projects have taken him to countries including Rwanda, Iraq, Indonesia, Tanzania and throughout the United States and Europe. His images are also featured in the monograph “Black: A Celebration of a Culture” and the book “Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers go to War.”
He is a Fulbright specialist and is the recipient of several awards and grants including Arthur F. Burns and Holbrooke Fellowships from the International Center for Journalists; a Knight-Luce Fellowship from the USC Annenberg School of Journalism; an Immigration Reporting Fellowship from the French American Foundation and grants from the Solutions Journalism Network and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
Shannon Chaffers – Investigative Reporter
Shannon covers the epidemic of gun violence for the Amsterdam News’ Blacklight investigative unit, reporting for its Beyond the Barrel of the Gun initiative. Prior to joining the Amsterdam News as a 2023 Report for America Corps member, Shannon spent a year in Germany as a Fulbright Young Professional Journalist, where she reported for The Local Germany.
Shannon is originally from Wellesley, Massachusetts, and graduated from Princeton University in 2022 with a major in Sociology. Away from journalism, she loves playing soccer and cheering on her favorite team, Arsenal FC.
Ashad Hajela, Data and Investigations Reporter
Ashad Hajela is a Data and Investigations Reporter at the New York Amsterdam News. He previously covered youth, race and justice at Connecticut Public Radio. There, he scrutinized Connecticut’s prisons and youth justice system. He won a Society of Professional Journalists award for his coverage of educational attainment behind bars. Before that, he covered rural affairs for Spotlight PA through Report for America, and public safety at The News & Observer in Raleigh.
Heather M. Butts – Contributor
Heather M. Butts leads the academic side of our partnership with the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and helps to write and edit many of our fact checks. She received her B.A. from Princeton University where she was a history major, concentrating in American and African-American Studies. She received her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University and her Master’s in Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College.
Professor Butts is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
She is the co-founder of H.E.A.L.T.H for Youths, Inc. a nonprofit organization which focuses on college readiness and preparation. Her organization partners with 90 programs each year to help more than 7,000 students achieve their dream of going to college. During COVID-19, her organization has worked on dozens of projects to help the community including: turning little free libraries into food pantries; getting resources to under privileged families; organizing several community gardening programs to get fresh produce to those in need.