Vanessa Romo
Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers breaking news on a wide range of topics, weighing in daily on everything from immigration and the treatment of migrant children, to a war-crimes trial where a witness claimed he was the actual killer, to an alleged sex cult. She has also covered the occasional cat-clinging-to-the-hood-of-a-car story.
Before her stint on the News Desk, Romo spent the early months of the Trump Administration on the Washington Desk covering stories about culture and politics – the voting habits of the post-millennial generation, the rise of Maxine Waters as a septuagenarian pop culture icon and DACA quinceañeras as Trump protests.
In 2016, she was at the core of the team that launched and produced The New York Times' first political podcast, The Run-Up with Michael Barbaro. Prior to that, Romo was a Spencer Education Fellow at Columbia University's School of Journalism where she began working on a radio documentary about a pilot program in Los Angeles teaching black and Latino students to code switch.
Romo has also traveled extensively through the Member station world in California and Washington. As the education reporter at Southern California Public Radio, she covered the region's K-12 school districts and higher education institutions and won the Education Writers Association first place award as well as a Regional Edward R. Murrow for Hard News Reporting.
Before that, she covered business and labor for Member station KNKX, keeping an eye on global companies including Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks and Microsoft.
A Los Angeles native, she is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, where she received a degree in history. She also earned a master's degree in Journalism from NYU. She loves all things camaron-based.
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The new opt-in feature lets women and nonbinary drivers prioritize passengers who fit the same description. But it's not a guarantee and is only available in a handful of cities for now. -
In the midst of a school shooting, UNC's student journalists kicked into action, covering the story as it unfolded. Now, the paper's front page — a block of heart-wrenching texts — is earning praise. -
Hurricane Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach, Fla., on Wednesday as a Category 3 storm before it was downgraded to a tropical storm. Georgia and South Carolina could see heavy wind and flooding -
The controversial entrepreneur is seeking redemption and some people are ready for him to try. Tickets have sold out. But he still owes $26 million in restitution to the people he fleeced. -
When everyone was trying to escape the flames in Lahaina, Luz Vargas ran toward them: Her son was home alone. Days later she found his body. Sunday would have been his 15th birthday. -
Jason Musgrove has been in agony for more than a week. He's had no contact from his 69-year-old mother, who has mobility issues. She was last seen escorted out of her apartment building on Aug. 8. -
The four-legged creatures with digestive tracts of steel make easy work of consuming vegetation that typically fuels wildfires. -
Lawmakers heard firsthand accounts of craft that are "beyond our current understanding of our technology," and allegations that the U.S. recovered non-human "bio remains." -
The new restaurant runs on star power from the streaming giant's unscripted programs. Dining there feels surreal, as striking writers and actors have brought the movie and TV industry to a standstill. -
King, 23, was stationed in South Korea, but was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. to face disciplinary action when he escaped an airport outside of Seoul and managed to flee into North Korea.
