
Lucia Cheng
News FellowExpertise: Reporting, producing and photographing stories affecting the Des Moines metro area, all in order to help IPR listeners and readers better understand, appreciate and explore their state
Education: Bachelors degree from Grinnell College
Favorite Iowa Destination: Saints Rest Coffee and Jay's Deli in Grinnell
Experience:
- Has been a freelance reporter for the Pasadena Star News in California
- Served as a reporter as well as the features editor, and later the news editor, for Grinnell's The Scarlet & Black student newspaper
- Reported and edited stories on COVID-19 and its impact on xenophobia as well as Title IX issues in the Grinnell community
- Received multiple Iowa College Media Association awards as part of The Scarlet & Black
- Participated in the first cohort of NPR’s Next Generation Radio in Iowa, in 2023
- Served as an intern in 2022 for Smithsonian Magazine, covering a Civil Rights icon and Geraldine Mock, the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world alone
- Served as an audio fellow with the Asian American Journalists Association in 2022
My Favorite Stories
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DMARC food pantries in Des Moines face even more stress on their budget deficit after seeing a record high demand for food assistance this holiday season.
My Latest Stories
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The number of families that choose a religious exemption from vaccines has more than doubled since 2018.
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People experiencing homelessness can be fined, charged and/or arrested for camping on public property.
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A federal court will rule for a second time on whether Iowa law can ban all books with sexual content from school libraries and prohibit teaching LGBTQ material in kindergarten through sixth grade.
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The White House stopped funding refugee resettlement agencies. Federal funding made up roughly 80% of their budgets.
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On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Michael Wolnerman reflects on the lessons his family learned facing tragedy.