Pam Fessler
Pam Fessler is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting issues.
In her reporting at NPR, Fessler does stories on homelessness, hunger, affordable housing, and income inequality. She reports on what non-profit groups, the government, and others are doing to reduce poverty and how those efforts are working. Her poverty reporting was recognized with a 2011 First Place National Headliner Award.
Fessler also covers elections and voting, including efforts to make voting more accessible, accurate, and secure. She has done countless stories on everything from the debate over state voter identification laws to Russian hacking attempts and long lines at the polls.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Fessler became NPR's first Homeland Security correspondent. For seven years, she reported on efforts to tighten security at ports, airports, and borders, and the debate over the impact on privacy and civil rights. She also reported on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, The 9/11 Commission Report, Social Security, and the Census. Fessler was one of NPR's White House reporters during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Before becoming a correspondent, Fessler was the acting senior editor on the Washington Desk and NPR's chief election editor. She coordinated all network coverage of the presidential, congressional, and state elections in 1996 and 1998. In her more than 25 years at NPR, Fessler has also been deputy Washington Desk editor and Midwest National Desk editor.
Earlier in her career, she was a senior writer at Congressional Quarterly magazine. Fessler worked there for 13 years as both a reporter and editor, covering tax, budget, and other news. She also worked as a budget specialist at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and was a reporter at The Record newspaper in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Fessler has a master's of public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from Douglass College in New Jersey.
-
Visitors to the National Museum of American History can see artifacts like the bucket used to launch the ALS ice bucket challenge and how they played a role in charitable giving throughout history. -
Many who work with the nation's poor worry that poverty will be forgotten under a Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress. -
Voting laws have been getting a lot of attention recently and more twists and turns can be expected before the election in November. Here's an update on challenges that saw movement this week. -
The recent hacking of Democratic Party emails has raised questions about the vulnerability of other election-related technology and what potential problems could arise on Election Day. -
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission's advisory board has shown dissatisfaction with the director's decision to allow three states to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. -
The city has long suffered a dearth of decent housing. The recent collapse of vacant buildings — which in one case killed a man — has increased the urgency of finding a solution. -
Most low-income tenants who end up in court are extremely poor; many of them are women with children. With a lack of housing aid and limited legal help, they often lose their cases and face eviction. -
Most people who end up facing eviction simply can't afford to pay their rent. Many low-income tenants work, but their rent outpaces their wages. An unexpected bill or a lost job can mean homelessness. -
Nancy Reagan has died at age 94. NPR's Pam Fessler has this remembrance of the former first lady.
-
The former first lady made a mark with her "Just Say No" campaign and her support of stem-cell research, which she hoped would lead to a cure for Alzheimer's, the disease that took away her husband.
