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.
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An Oakland, Calif., nonprofit group encourages low-income families to figure out for themselves what they need to get ahead, and then helps them achieve their goals. Its pilot program for low-income families is proving to be a promising new approach to an old problem. -
Cities are struggling to figure out how to deal with a cut of about $1 billion over the past two years in federal community development block grants. Critics say a complicated funding formula has hit some cities especially hard, with cuts of more than 40 percent from last year.
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The nation's poverty rate rose last year to 15.1 percent, the highest level in 17 years, according to new data from the Census Bureau. The agency's latest poverty report, released Tuesday, shows that the median income dropped last year by more than 2 percent to about $49,445. -
The nation's poverty rate rose last year to 15.1 percent, the highest level in 17 years, according to new data from the Census Bureau. The agency's latest poverty report, released Tuesday, shows that the median income dropped last year by more than 2 percent to about $49,445.
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Despite the bad economy, the number of Americans who struggled to get enough to eat did not grow last year, and in some cases declined, according to new government data. Still, a near-record number — almost 49 million people — were affected. -
The study by the Pew Research Center says the median net worth of a white family in 2009 was 20 times greater than that of the average black family, and 18 times greater than the average Hispanic family. The gap is twice what it was before the Great Recession.
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The study by the Pew Research Center says the median net worth of a white family in 2009 was 20 times greater than that of the average black family, and 18 times greater than the average Hispanic family. The gap is twice what it was before the Great Recession.
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The Williamsons of Carlisle, Pa., live well below the poverty line. And in the family's struggle to obtain enough food, nutrition sometimes takes a back seat to necessity. Hunger in America is complicated. It's not just getting enough food, but getting the right food -- and making the right choices.
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The Williamsons of Carlisle, Pa., live well below the poverty line. And in the family's struggle to obtain enough food, nutrition sometimes takes a back seat to necessity. Hunger in America is complicated. It's not just getting enough food, but getting the right food -- and making the right choices.
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Americans have given more than $275 million so far to nonprofits providing relief in Haiti, according to data compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. But charitable-giving experts say people need to keep an eye on where their money goes.
