Rose LaForest is a multi-media journalist at Nine PBS. Prior to this role, LaForest produced video explainers for WSLS-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, as part of an experimental program testing storytelling strategies for video journalists in local newsrooms. In 2024, she earned her master’s degree in broadcast and video journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she produced short documentaries on dementia-related wandering, juvenile incarceration, and even traveled to Argentina to cover the shifting cultural attitudes toward women in male-dominated sports. LaForest previously interned at Detroit PBS, producing stories and coordinating digital content. Her journalism career began when she found non-fiction storytelling through a film history class while studying TV and film production at Michigan State University. As she learned more about the medium, LaForest says it helped her find a natural way to become involved and contribute to her community.
Beat: Bridging the rural and urban divide in the St. Louis region
Rural communities in Missouri and Illinois continue to face barriers to accessing information. The St. Louis region is home to a national hub for agriculture and agtech, with at least 50% of our nation's crops and livestock produced within 500 miles of the station. This reporter will tell stories to help understand how farmers and rural businesses are innovating and evolving and help bridge the gap between urban and rural.