AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA'S MARKETPLACE HIRES STAFF FOR WEALTH AND POVERTY DESK
Contact:
Tara Schlosser
Phone: (651) 290-1436
tschlosser@americanpublicmedia.org
AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA'S MARKETPLACE HIRES STAFF FOR WEALTH AND POVERTY DESK
(ST. PAUL, Minn.) April 12, 2012 - After an extensive national search, American Public Media's Marketplace announces four new hires for the Wealth & Poverty Desk. Krissy Clark, senior reporter, is joining Marketplace from KQED where she is the Los Angeles bureau chief for California Report. Joining the Desk as reporter is Shereen Marisol Meraji, a business and economy reporter from KPCC. Rounding out the team are associate producer, Jolie Puidokas, former associate producer for Marketplace Morning Report and assistant producer, John Ketchum, a reporter from WCMU in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The four new hires will be staffing the Desk by early May and will report to Celeste Wesson, senior editor for the Wealth & Poverty Desk.
"I can't wait to see what this talented, diverse team comes up with when they start working together," said Celeste Wesson. "They have the curiosity and creativity to delve into economic data, and to translate their reporting into compelling stories about how the wealth gap affects our lives, at all economic levels."
"The realities of wealth, poverty and the country's growing income gap shape the world we live in, and yet they are subjects that can be loaded or hard to talk about," said Krissy Clark. "I hope our reporting will help shed light on the forces behind these issues and make them dinner table and bus stop conversation."
Clark is an award-winning journalist and documentary-maker, whose work has been featured on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, the BBC and Marketplace. She was on the founding staff of American Public Media's Weekend America and is founder of storieseverywhere.org.
"I'm excited to tell stories that move the conversation about the wealth gap beyond the numbers 1 and 99," said Shereen Marisol Meraji.
Before joining KPCC, Meraji was a producer at NPR's Day to Day and All Things Considered as well as a freelance reporter for NPR.
Marketplace launched the Wealth & Poverty Desk earlier this year with a grant from the Ford Foundation. Using Marketplace's signature style, the Wealth & Poverty Desk explores the human impact of the wealth gap and creates a thoughtful conversation among Americans from different classes, races and walks of life. To explore some of the critical reporting already produced by the Desk, visit marketplace.org/wealth-poverty.
Marketplace has a number of successes in recent weeks, from Kai Ryssdal's interview with President Obama, to Rob Schmitz's revealing reporting about a recent error-filled story on This American Life, to the formation of our groundbreaking new Wealth and Poverty Desk. To find where you can tune-in Marketplace in your area, visit Marketplace.org and click on "Local Air Times."
About Marketplace
Marketplace reports on business, the economy and money as they affect people every day. The portfolio reaches 9.5 million listeners each week on more than 500 public radio stations through its award-winning news shows: Marketplace Morning Report; Marketplace; Marketplace Money; and Marketplace Tech Report. For more information on Marketplace, please visit marketplace.publicradio.org.
About American Public Media
American Public Media is one of the largest producers of public radio programming in the world, with a portfolio reaching 15.4 million listeners via more than 800 radio stations nationwide each week. Programs include A Prairie Home Companion, Marketplace, Performance Today, The Splendid Table, On Being, American RadioWorks and many others. American Public Media's 140,000 member-strong Public Insight Network promotes deep connections between journalists across the country and the communities they serve. American Public Media is the parent organization for Minnesota Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio and Classical South Florida. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be found at www.americanpublicmedia.org.
Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc. Arbitron data are estimates only. Spring 2011/Fall 2011 average.