Ailsa Chang (born January 18, 1976)[1][2] is an American journalist. She’s a host of the NPR newsmagazine All Things Considered. She is a former host of Planet Money and previously covered United States Congress for NPR. Prior to joining NPR in 2012, Chang was an investigative journalist at NPR member station WNYC in New York City. Since starting as a radio reporter in 2009, she has received numerous national awards for investigative reporting.
Ailsa Chang | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 18, 1976 |
| Education | Stanford University (BA, JD) University of Oxford (LLM) Columbia University (MA) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Employer | NPR |
Early life and education
editChang grew up in Los Altos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.[3] Her parents are from Taiwan.[4]
Chang is a graduate of Mountain View High School.[3] She earned a bachelor of arts degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1998[5] and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 2001.[6] She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Oxford, earning a master's degree in media law.[7] In 2008, she completed a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University.[6]
Career
editChang served as law clerk to John T. Noonan, Jr., a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[6]
After five years practicing law, Chang realized it wasn’t a good fit and quit her job. She was 30 years old. Looking for a way to fill her time while she figured out what came next, she volunteered as an unpaid intern at NPR member station KQED in San Francisco, where she was living at the time.[8] With a newfound a passion for journalism, she returned to school for a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University.[8]
After journalism school, Chang joined NPR in 2008 as a Kroc Fellow in Washington D.C.,[6] where she wrote an investigative report into the public defender system of Detroit.[9] The piece, which aired on NPR in 2009, was awarded the 2010 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize.[10]
She returned to KQED as a reporter, before joining WNYC in 2009, where she covered criminal justice, terrorism and the courts.[5] At WNYC, Chang wrote an investigative report into "stop-and-frisk" search policies of New York City Police Department.[11] The series, which aired on NPR in 2011, earned her a silver baton in the 2012 Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards.[5][12]
Chang returned to NPR in 2012. She was a correspondent for Planet Money and also reported on U.S. Congress activities, specifically immigration, healthcare and gun control.[6] In 2018, she assumed co-host chair on the afternoon radio program All Things Considered.[6] Chang has also appeared as a guest on PBS NewsHour and other television programs for her legal reporting.
Awards
edit- 2001: Irvine Hellman, Jr. Special Award[6]
- 2011: Art Athens Award for General Excellence in Individual Reporting for radio[6]
- 2012: Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards, Silver Baton[6]
- 2015: National Journalism Award from the Asian American Journalists Association for coverage of Capitol Hill[6]
Personal life
editChang lives in Los Angeles, California, with her dog Mickey, a Shih Tzu, who she describes as “my absolute best friend in the whole wide world.”[13]
References
edit- ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ a b Hill, Sommer (May 17, 2023). "Faces of NPR AAPI Heritage Month: Ailsa Chang". NPR. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ @ailsachang (October 12, 2020). "My parents are from Taiwan, and they're always talking about how smart the Taiwanese are..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c "People - Ailsa Chang | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ailsa Chang". NPR. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ School, Stanford Law (June 2, 2016). "Ailsa Chang: Reporting from Washington". Stanford Law School. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ a b Sun, Adelina (June 3, 2024). "Life Lessons with NPR Host and Journalist Ailsa Chang". Mochi Magazine. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ Chang, Ailsa (August 17, 2009). "Not Enough Money Or Time To Defend Detroit's Poor". National Public Radio. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ^ "WBUR, Boston University Announce 2010 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize Winner" (Press release). Boston University. November 9, 2010. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ^ Chang, Ailsa (April 26, 2011). "Alleged Illegal Searches by NYPD May Be Increasing Marijuana Arrests". WNYC. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ^ "duPont-Columbia Winners Archive". Columbia University. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ^ Lampen, Claire (May 8, 2023). "How the Host of NPR's All Things Considered Gets It Done". The Cut. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
External links
edit- Staff page at NPR
- Staff page at WNYC