Kenneth Burns is WHYY’s New Jersey reporter. He joined the station in 2018 as an anchor. He also contributed stories and won a 2020 Keystone Media Award for one of them.
Prior to WHYY, he covered city government and urban issues for WYPR in Baltimore, his first stop in public media. His coverage of the Freddie Gray police trials won a 2017 National Headliner Award. Burns began his career shortly after high school as an intern and later news assistant at WTOP in Washington, D.C. He would go on to work for several commercial broadcasting outlets as a reporter, anchor, and producer in the D.C. and Baltimore metro areas.
The native Marylander and recently adopted New Jerseyan is a graduate of Towson University and Anne Arundel Community College.
More from the Contributor
Officials in Burlington, Bucks counties assess storm damage
Known for his criminal justice work in the community, Wayne Jacobs is asking for help.
4 years ago
New Jersey grants digital access to COVID vaccine records
New Jersey has partnered with Docket Health to give residents digital access to their COVID-19 vaccination records.
4 years ago
Elsa leaves Jersey Shore largely unscathed
Tropical Storm Elsa left minimal impact on the Jersey Shore as it moved through the region overnight.
4 years ago
New charges against white Mount Laurel man in viral video of racist rant
Edward Mathews, who had already been charged with bias intimidation, is now accused of damaging vehicles and stalking one of his neighbors.
4 years ago
Mount Laurel community says white neighbor’s racist rant is the tip of the iceberg
Edward Mathews’ racist rant against a Black neighbor, captured on viral video, has left a mark on what neighbors describe as a peaceful, multi-cultural community.
4 years ago
N.J.’s first needle exchange could close as Atlantic City looks to develop beyond casinos
Advocates are lobbying Gov. Murphy to save the program, which they say has helped reduce HIV infections in the area by 50% since it opened 14 years ago.
4 years ago
Listen 2:47
Rutgers-Camden welcomes award-winning scholar as chancellor
Antonio Tillis comes to Rutgers-Camden after years with the University of Houston system. He said he’s excited to continue working with first-generation college students.
4 years ago
Murphy appoints first openly gay attorney general in New Jersey history
Andrew Bruck will take over after Gurbir Grewal departs for the federal government in July. Bruck will be the state’s first openly gay attorney general.
4 years ago
Grewal leaving the Murphy administration for the SEC
Gurbir Grewal, the nation’s first Sikh attorney general, has been appointed head of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
4 years ago
‘Sucker signed’: Murphy approves New Jersey’s biggest spending plan ever
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed the state's largest budget ever after swift passage by the Legislature with little time for public scrutiny of the bill.
4 years ago
With food insecurity still on the rise, N.J. may create cabinet role dedicated to fighting hunger
New Jerseyans in need continue to seek help from food pantries as the Legislature passes a bill to create the cabinet-level position of a Food Insecurity Advocate.
4 years ago
Camden moves to ban cannabis businesses to implement its own rules in the future
Officials face an Aug. 22 deadline under the measure giving the Cannabis Regulatory Commission control over the N.J. recreational marijuana market.
4 years ago