Editor’s note: WHYY News team welcomes journalists, celebrates noteworthy storytelling in 2023

At WHYY News, we are building a local newsroom for the future that is community-focused and adept at producing sustainable content strategies that meet the news and information needs of our audiences on digital and audio platforms. As I look back on the news department’s accomplishments in 2023, it is fitting to note the new faces that make up the news team and the people who are delivering the news.

We welcomed veteran and mid-career journalists to the newsroom in the latter part of 2023. They each bring distinct experience and value to our newsroom, as does a veteran staffer who was recently promoted.

Vicky Diaz-Camacho, Carmen Russell-Sluchansky, Heather Chin, Amanda Fitzpatrick, and Madhu Bora are among the journalists who joined the WHYY News staff in 2023. These staff updates, along with hires announced in the spring of 2023, add dogged reporting chops to our award-winning newsroom.

Cris Barrish was promoted to multiplatform investigative reporter. Barrish will play a pivotal role in WHYY News’ recently developed Delaware statehouse coverage project funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. His first story documented the turmoil in Delaware Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long’s gubernatorial campaign.

Madhu Bora is the managing editor of suburban coverage. She’s a filmmaker and artist who has previously worked for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Indianapolis Star, Tampa Bay Times, Press of Atlantic City, and WURD Radio.

Vicky Diaz-Camacho is a multiplatform producer at WHYY News and a former engagement editor at Kansas City PBS. In this new role, Diaz-Camacho will report special and daily assignments, produce news content for digital platforms, as well as fill in as an on-air host.

Heather Chin is Billy Penn’s deputy editor. She’s a former digital producer at The Philadelphia Inquirer and has previously worked at hyperlocal publications in her native Brooklyn.

Amanda Fitzpatrick has filled the city education reporter position. She has about 20 years of experience working in television news in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Dallas, to name some markets.

Carmen Russell-Sluchansky is WHYY News’ multiplatform reporter, politics. He previously produced and hosted “Due Diligence,” the internationally broadcast radio news show and podcast, and he covered national political campaigns, the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court. He’s a filmmaker and brings his visual and international journalism to the team.

In 2023, WHYY News was recognized with numerous national, regional and local awards for excellence in reporting, audio and digital, such as the 2023 Large Market  Radio National Edward R. Murrow Award for Podcasting, six Regional Murrow Awards, 15 Keystone Awards, including the 2023 Outstanding News Operation (Broadcast) for Radio 1 in Philadelphia, an Eppy Award, and a Signal Award, among other honors.

I was recently asked to write a Nieman news prediction for 2024 and appreciated the opportunity to share what makes up our newsroom’s DNA — civic dialogue. I believe more newsrooms will prioritize community engagement, and specifically civic dialogue, as a necessary newsgathering tool moving forward.

The WHYY News team will continue to produce innovative journalism storytelling projects that help our audience navigate news they can use across digital platforms and on FM radio. We’ve just wrapped a news reporting project, “Young, Unhoused and Unseen,” with Temple University’s Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting.

You may continue to rely on WHYY News’ fact-based and credible reporting. We welcome hearing from you. Let us know what stories we should cover in 2024 and to which neighborhoods the staff might consider bringing a future pop-newsroom. Send us your thoughts here.

Yours in Journalism,
Sarah Glover
WHYY VP of News and Civic Dialogue