Vanessa Romo Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk.
Vanessa Romo
Stories By

Vanessa Romo

Kara Frame/NPR
Vanessa Romo
Kara Frame/NPR

Vanessa Romo

Reporter

Vanessa Romo is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers breaking news on a wide range of topics, weighing in daily on everything from immigration and the treatment of migrant children, to a war-crimes trial where a witness claimed he was the actual killer, to an alleged sex cult. She has also covered the occasional cat-clinging-to-the-hood-of-a-car story.

Before her stint on the News Desk, Romo spent the early months of the Trump Administration on the Washington Desk covering stories about culture and politics – the voting habits of the post-millennial generation, the rise of Maxine Waters as a septuagenarian pop culture icon and DACA quinceañeras as Trump protests.

In 2016, she was at the core of the team that launched and produced The New York Times' first political podcast, The Run-Up with Michael Barbaro. Prior to that, Romo was a Spencer Education Fellow at Columbia University's School of Journalism where she began working on a radio documentary about a pilot program in Los Angeles teaching black and Latino students to code switch.

Romo has also traveled extensively through the Member station world in California and Washington. As the education reporter at Southern California Public Radio, she covered the region's K-12 school districts and higher education institutions and won the Education Writers Association first place award as well as a Regional Edward R. Murrow for Hard News Reporting.

Before that, she covered business and labor for Member station KNKX, keeping an eye on global companies including Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks and Microsoft.

A Los Angeles native, she is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, where she received a degree in history. She also earned a master's degree in Journalism from NYU. She loves all things camaron-based.

Story Archive

Thursday

The Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, was the site of an attack by British national Malik Faisal Akram, who was in a 10-hour hostage standoff with law enforcement. A new report by the Anti-Defamation League says antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose 36% in 2022. Brandon Wade/AP hide caption

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Brandon Wade/AP

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was initially approved by Chinese officials to screen at more than 30 cinemas in Hong Kong and Macau on Thursday. But days ahead of the screening, the film's distribution company was told it was no longer allowed to show the slasher film starring a murderous Winnie the Pooh. Chen Cici/AP hide caption

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Chen Cici/AP

Tuesday

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow looks on before leaving the courtroom on Tuesday in Park City, Utah, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier in 2016 and leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs. Rick Bowmer/AP hide caption

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Rick Bowmer/AP

Saturday

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which meets at City Hall, accepted a draft plan of more than 100 recommendations for reparations to eligible Black residents. But the move was largely procedural and doesn't bind the city to any of the proposals. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tuesday

Michelle Yeoh, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress on Sunday, delivered a rallying cry for Hollywood's older actresses during her acceptance speech. Evan Agostini/AP hide caption

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Evan Agostini/AP

Plows, at right, try to pass crawling traffic in the snow on Route 93 South in Londonderry, N.H., Tuesday. The storm is expected to continue into early Wednesday. Charles Krupa/AP hide caption

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Charles Krupa/AP

Sunday

Pascale Sablan was once told she'd never become an architect because she's Black and a woman. Now she works for one of the world's most prestigious firms and she wants more people who look like her to join the field. Aundre Larrow/Pascale Sablan hide caption

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Aundre Larrow/Pascale Sablan

Thursday

Paul Austin and Tenisha Tate Austin stand in front of their renovated home in Marin City, Calif. The couple settled a federal housing discrimination lawsuit late last month. ABC Owned Television Stations hide caption

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ABC Owned Television Stations

Tuesday

A member of the Mexican security forces stands next to a white minivan with North Carolina plates and several bullet holes at the scene of the crime in Matamoros on Friday. Stringer/AP hide caption

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Stringer/AP

Monday

Matamoros, Mexico, is a stronghold for various criminal organizations, particularly the Gulf Cartel. U.S. and Mexican officials say four U.S. citizens were abducted at gunpoint in the city on Friday. Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images

Monday

During rehearsals on the set of Rust in October 2021, actor Alec Baldwin, here pictured in 2015, fired a gun with a live round, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. He now faces involuntary manslaughter charges. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption

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Seth Wenig/AP

Thursday

Ryan Seacrest, pictured at the 2021 Jingle Ball Los Angeles, said on Thursday that he's been thinking about leaving Live with Kelly and Ryan for a long time. Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP hide caption

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Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Wednesday

Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee on Thursday to discuss the cancellation of nearly 16,700 flights in December. David Zalubowski/AP hide caption

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David Zalubowski/AP

Elián González, pictured in 2014, has been nominated to join Cuba's parliament. Elections are planned for March 26. González was at the center of a bitter custody battle in 2000 between relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba. Ramon Espinosa/AP hide caption

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Ramon Espinosa/AP

Tuesday

Southwest canceled more than 16,700 flights over several days in late December, leaving thousands of travelers stranded for days. Now lawmakers are attempting to hold airlines to account for disruptions and cancellations with a new Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights. David Zalubowski/AP hide caption

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David Zalubowski/AP

Monday

Friday

Bobbi Wilson holds her collection of spotted lanternflies as she is honored at the Yale School of Public Health on Jan. 20. Andrew Hurley/Yale University hide caption

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Andrew Hurley/Yale University

Wednesday

A grand jury indictment says that Josh Sills of the Philadelphia Eagles football team allegedly engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity with a woman and held her against her will in December 2019. AP hide caption

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AP

Monday

Police in Bloomfield, N.J. are looking for the suspect who hurled a Molotov cocktail at the entrance of a synagogue early Sunday morning. Surveillance video shows him wearing a ski mask and skull and crossbones top. Bloomfield Division of Public Safety hide caption

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Bloomfield Division of Public Safety

Wednesday

Tuesday

This surveillance video image released by the Yakima Police Department shows a suspect sought in a shooting at a convenience store in Yakima, Wash., early on Tuesday. Yakima Police Department Facebook hide caption

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Yakima Police Department Facebook

Sunday

Wednesday

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, addresses marchers during his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. On Monday, his daughter Bernice King said, "My father's 'dream' wasn't palpable to the white masses, including politicians." AP hide caption

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AP