Vermont Public Radio’s first News Fellow hire is Marlon Hyde. Hyde is graduating from Saint Michael’s College this spring with a degree in media studies, journalism and digital arts. He’s from Queens, New York.
Hyde built on his storytelling, writing and reporting skills while studying abroad in Morocco in 2020, where he created content for Reporting Morocco, an online news magazine. During his first week on the job, he covered a protest where Moroccans were marching to parliament to show solidarity with Palestine. He said that experience solidified for him the power of stories to connect people and build empathy and awareness.
Sarah Ashworth, VPR’s vice president of news, said that Hyde brings a strong sense of exploration and creativity to his work and his thinking about public media.
“His reflections on growing up in a family of storytellers makes clear he understands the power of stories to connect people,” she said. “We’re excited for him to join our newsroom as a reporter to cover some of the most pressing issues in our state and improve and expand our coverage of all communities.”
The news fellowship was created as part of VPR’s Diverse Voices Initiative, a donor-funded commitment to expanding who covers news in Vermont and help give voice to underserved communities. The year-long fellowship recruits new or early-career journalists with life experience or other knowledge that will contribute to a broader understanding of all the communities VPR serves.
