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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Workers simply don't earn enough money to keep up with skyrocketing rental rates across the country, the National Low Income Housing Coalition found in its latest Out of Reach report. -
"I hold the government responsible for anything that may happen to me," Dina Stars said before abruptly ending an interview. Human rights groups say some 148 people have been detained since Sunday. -
"This initial settlement of $850 million is the largest settlement of sexual abuse claims in United States history," Ken Rothweiler, who represents more than 16,000 men in the settlement said. -
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. -
At least one person has died. Authorities said rescuers helped evacuate at least 35 people who were trapped inside the building near Miami. -
Lloyd Austin endorses removing the prosecution of sexual assaults and related crimes from the military chain of command, but Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says the recommendation doesn't go far enough. -
The ripple effects of decisions made throughout the pandemic could mean disruptions for thousands of passengers throughout the busy summer travel season. -
"I just want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay," he said in an Instagram video. "I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest." -
"We can all finally celebrate. The whole country together," says Opal Lee, 94, who has been working for years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
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The revised guidelines are not an enthusiastic endorsement of travel, moving Japan from the highest risk ranking to a tier below. But the change comes as Japan struggles with a surge in infections. -
The linchpin to retrieving $2.3 million, half the company's payment, was gaining access to the private key linked to the attacker's Bitcoin account. Here's how authorities may have gotten it. -
Doughnut came first, but donut wasn't far behind. Now, whether it's glazed or jelly-filled, experts say either spelling is equally acceptable.
