RADIO / PODCAST

Ismael Lele

Before joining the Oklahoma Eagle, Lele worked as a reporting intern at the Tulsa World, serving audiences with stories related to homelessness, housing costs and gun violence. The previous summer, he contributed to a multimedia project analyzing the state of American democracy through Carnegie-Knight's News 21 program. At the University of Oklahoma, he earned a degree in journalism and worked for the independent student newspaper — The OU Daily — as a city reporter and editor. His interest in news writing stems from his high school days, when he wrote movie reviews and sports content for his high school paper, the Tiger Tribune.

Desiree Hagan

Desiree Hagen is a reporter based in Kotzebue, Alaska which is located about 30 miles above the Arctic Circle. She's worked in public radio for over a decade and started her carrer in journalism after hosting a podcast on Alaskan gardening and agriculture. She's worked as a reporter for KBBI in Homer, Alaska and KYUK in Bethel, Alaska. Currently she is news director for a one-person newsroom for KOTZ in Kotzebue.

KOTZ

KOTZ is a nonprofit public radio station that serves the Northwest Arctic. The news department covers everything from local city government and megadevelopment projects, to climate change and mining. We have a small one-person newsroom.  

KRBD Rainbird Community Radio

KRBD is a public radio station in Ketchikan, Alaska, and is owned and operated by Rainbird Community Broadcasting.  KRBD is a community radio station that seeks to inform, engage, enlighten, and delight to make a positive difference in the lives of the people of Southern Southeast Alaska. The station is located on Revillagigedo Island, in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, and serves a listening area of approximately 18,000 to 20,000 people, including the communities of Ketchikan, Saxman, Metlaktla, Craig, Klawock, Thorne Bay and Hydaburg.  KRBD is a vital news source for the area, as well as the area’s LP-1 emergency provider.

Andy Lusk

Andy Lusk is the mid-cities communities reporter for NPR member station KERA in Dallas. He is a returning Report for America corps member, having spent two years with KUCB, the NPR member station serving Alaska's Aleutian and Pribilof Islands. While in Alaska, Andy was an award-winning general assignment reporter with a focus on local and tribal government. He previously reported for InvestmentWires, a financial trade publication based in New York City. Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Andy grew up on Carolina barbecue but is willing to give Texas dry rubs a try. He spends his free time hiking and writing fiction. If you run into him in the wild, tell him about your favorite book. Andy is an alumnus of New York University with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Grant Ritchey

Prior to joining the Racine County Eye, Grant Ritchey covered K-12 education at Knox Pages in Ohio for three years, writing solutions-journalism-focused stories on Knox County's public schools. He also covered local government and crime at the Ashland Times-Gazette.

Gerard Edic

Gerard Edic covers the effects of gun violence on LeFlore County in the Mississippi Delta at The Greenwood Commonwealth. This marks his second stint at the newspaper, where he began his journalism career as a general assignment reporter. Most recently, Edic worked at PBS News, where he assisted with research and editorial production for PBS News Weekend and Washington Week with The Atlantic. He also co-produced various segments for PBS News Weekend, including tensions in the South China Sea, gang violence in Haiti, and school lunch junk fees. Edic has also edited pieces submitted by incarcerated writers for Prison Journalism Project and wrote about policy issues at The American Prospect. Edic earned his master’s degree in journalism, focusing on business and economics reporting, at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Edic has won several awards from the Mississippi Press Association’s Better Newspaper Media Contest, including the Bill Minor Prize for General News Reporting for a piece assessing the community impact of record-high homicides in Leflore County in 2020. Edic is an avid runner and loves to cook.

Hallie Claflin

Prior to joining the Commonwealth Beacon, Claflin covered state government, politics and rural homelessness for Wisconsin Watch. Her journalism career started in her home state of Wisconsin, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in both journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also holds a minor in Asian American studies. In college, she interned at a number of local publications, including The Badger Project and Madison Commons. In 2023, she covered national and international affairs as a visual news intern at Voice of America in Washington, D.C. Claflin is a U.S. history buff, and she is thrilled to be reporting in Massachusetts, where her distant relative William Claflin was the 27th governor from 1869 to 1872.

Amanda Venclovaite Pirani

Prior to joining Report for America, Pirani interned for New Hampshire Public Radio were she reported on topics ranging from state policy to backyard beekeeping. She also previously covered the New Hampshire statehouse and environmental issues interning for the New Hampshire Bulletin. In 2023, Pirani covered Republican campaigns freelancing for The New York Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and creative writing from the University of Michigan, where she covered the city of Ann Arbor for the Michigan Daily. When she's not reporting, Pirani enjoys hiking mountains and writing poetry

Dina Weinstein

Prior to joining the Henrico Citizen newsroom, Dina Weinstein reported for Virginia Commonwealth University’s News website focusing on people, programs, trends, and events in higher education. She also spent this year researching, presenting, and publishing stories about VCU’s first Black School of Nursing graduate through a Virginia Humanities fellowship. Weinstein's award-winning articles and interviews have been published in dozens of publications and outlets, including a recent Henrico Citizen series about refugees. Before moving to Richmond, Weinstein advised the student newspaper at Miami-Dade College in South Florida while reporting on higher education, the arts, parenting, civil rights anniversaries, and Jewish life for numerous publications worldwide. Weinstein earned a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's of fine arts from Boston University. A Spanish speaker, Weinstein enjoys reading, cultural activities, cycling, and nature.