89.3 WFPL News has hired Ja’Nel Johnson as WFPL's health reporter. This newly established position will cover a wide range of health issues in the Louisville metro area and throughout the state. Johnson will focus on all aspects of health and healthcare -- from institutions to legislation to individuals --and file regular, in-depth enterprise reports for broadcast and the web.
The addition of a health reporter to the WFPL News team is part of The Next Louisville: Community Health, a collaboration between 89.3 WFPL News, Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, and the Community Foundation of Louisville. The Next Louisville is a year-long journalism project to inform, engage and inspire conversation about our city’s most pressing issues.
Johnson has worked as news director at KVNO News in Omaha, Neb., for the last 16 months. There, she reports, edits and manages news programming for the radio station. She also serves as executive producer of "The Omaha News," a student-produced television program that airs on a local PBS affiliate.
"Ja'Nel is a talented, skilled reporter and a dynamic person," said Brendan McCarthy, WFPL's interim news director. "She's worked in newspapers, television and radio. She's a great addition to our newsroom."
The Gary, Ind. native, graduated with a degree in communications from Claflin University in South Carolina.
She later earned a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She has written for several newspapers, including the Northwest Indiana Times, the Times and Democrat and the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.