Lynette Clemetson
Director, StateImpact
Lynette Clemetson is NPR's Director of StateImpact. This NPR collaboration with local public radio stations examines public policy issues in-depth through a cross-platform reporting network focused on how government decisions affect people's lives.
Clemetson, who came to NPR in 2012, has distinguished herself as a traditional and digital journalist specializing in online strategy and entrepreneurial journalism. She served as a domestic correspondent covering political, social, and cultural issues at The New York Times for five years. She covered a range of national issues from Supreme Court nominations and the political and social fallout of the war in Iraq to mental health issues, adoption and HIV/AIDS.
Clemetson was the founding managing editor of TheRoot.com, a leading online source of news and commentary that was launched in 2008 by The Washington Post Company and Harvard's Henry Louis Gates to raise the profile of African American voices in digital and traditional media.
Before joining The New York Times, Clemetson worked as a national and international correspondent for Newsweek magazine. As a national correspondent based in Washington, D.C., she covered politics and social issues, with a focus on demographics and ethnic identity.
Clemetson joined Newsweek in 1996 as an Asia correspondent based in Hong Kong where she covered political, social and cultural news throughout Southeast Asia. Her work contributed to a 1997 Ed Cunningham Award from the Overseas Press Club Award for Newsweek's coverage of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule.
Clemetson comes to NPR from the Pew Center on the States where she served as the Director of Content Strategy, leading the launch of a new website and digital publishing operation.
In 2010, Clemetson was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. She researched the financial and editorial viability of online news models and designed and developed an entrepreneurial journalism course adopted by the Knight-Wallace program.
Clemetson earned a Master of Arts in East Asian studies from University of Pittsburgh. She speaks Mandarin Chinese.
