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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Republican lawmakers in Florida are scrambling to convince established immigrant workers who already have jobs to stay, while making it inhospitable for newly arrived migrants. -
Gov. Ron DeSantis says the penalties for companies that violate new employment requirements will help the state prosper. But businesses and immigrant activists alike say it'll do more harm than good.
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The crew and passengers aboard the whale watching boats have described it as a once in a lifetime moment. Lucky for you, it was caught on video!
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It can take years to grow the perfect mullet, and these kids have put in their time to take home the 2022 USA Mullet Championship trophy. Here's a peek at some of the most remarkable contestant 'dos.
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The iconic singer-songwriter wasn't able to walk or talk after a brain aneurysm in 2015. Dr. Anthony Wang, a neurosurgeon, explains the challenges she faced as a musician and her remarkable comeback.
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The $10 billion telescope is nearly ready to begin capturing images that scientists hope will help uncover the mysteries of the universe — and scope out other possible habitable planets.
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The project, a first of its kind, aims to study the social and cultural dimensions of living in space and how people adapt their behavior when they're living in a completely new environment.
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The report comes six months after the horrific collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building that killed 98 people, and warns of future catastrophes if changes are not immediately instituted.
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The Navajo Nation Museum is bringing a newly voiced version of the classic spaghetti Western to the Navajo Nation.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis ratcheted up a confrontation with school superintendents on Monday, saying anyone who defies his ban on mask mandates might lose a paycheck. Teachers and staff wouldn't be punished.
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Officials had vowed to continue the search for people among roughly 11 tons of rubble that remained until all missing persons had been recovered. Now firefighters have finished their search.
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Thunder and lightning storms interfere with searchers as they claw through debris in search of survivors. State officials say an extra federal team would help them deal with inclement weather.
