KUER, NPR Utah announced today that reporter Jon Reed will add the education beat to his work at the station effective immediately. Reed will cover a wide range of issues at all levels of schooling, including early, primary, secondary and higher education.
His reporting will be heard on 90.1 FM and KUER’s statewide broadcast network, and be available at KUER.org and across social media platforms.
“Education issues affect every Utahn, and their impacts are felt in so many ways across the state,” said Reed. “I am truly excited to cover as many of those stories as possible, and to explain to KUER’s statewide audience how students, parents, teachers, administrators and elected officials are responding to immediate needs and long-term challenges.”
Learning inequalities, student food insecurity, teacher recruitment and disparities in access to technology are just a few of the topics Reed says he will explore in his new role for KUER News.
“The decisions Utah officials make now to address the needs of students — from Kindergarten through post-secondary learning — will impact the vibrancy and health of our community for decades to come,” said news director Elaine Clark. “Having Jon dedicated to covering education is crucial to keeping KUER’s listeners up-to-date on this important issue.”
Reed joined KUER as a general assignment reporter in 2019, covering a variety of economic, environmental and other issues. Since then, his focus on education has grown steadily, with reporting on student learning and the health of teachers during the pandemic, education funding and elementary students’ first day back in the classroom.
Reed’s work at KUER has earned regional and local awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and was republished by news outlets such as The Salt Lake Tribune, KSL.com and The Associated Press. In 2020, Reed served as a mentor for NPR’s Next Generation Radio project, which pairs students with working journalists to produce a multimedia story during an intensive, weeklong training workshop.
Prior to KUER, Reed was a contributing reporter and production assistant for KCRW, an NPR member station serving Los Angeles. He received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Reed also spent six years in the film industry as an editor and post-production coordinator, working on everything from Hollywood blockbusters to independent documentaries.
Reflecting on his new beat, Reed added: “Part of my job is to make sure that these issues stay at the forefront of people’s minds. There’s so much to talk about and education touches so many other aspects of our community.”
If you have any tips or story ideas, please direct them to Jon Reed at jreed@kuer.org or on Twitter @reedathonjon.