The Laurel has learned Hartford Courant writer Vanessa de la Torre is leaving the paper to join WNPR as a reporter covering race and diversity issues. She’ll make the move in a few weeks.
In September, WNPR joined with a group of other public media outlets to hire a team of reporters to focus on issues involving race. Under the original plan the team would have an editor based in St. Louis.
According to WNPR news director Jeff Cohen, “Vanessa will be part of a nationwide team covering issues and people at the intersection of race, culture, and diversity. She’ll join other reporters based at member stations in St. Louis and Kansas City, MO, as well as in Portland, OR. The effort is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and is also a collaboration with NPR.”
WNPR has put together a similar news cooperative covering New England from a regional perspective. The work of the cooperative is featured weekly on a program anchored by John Dankosky and finds its way into regular newscasts and other NPR programming.
Encouraging this model is part of a plan by NPR to strengthen news gathering ties between local stations and the network.
