Iowa statehouse, especially issues affecting underserved populations
Iowa Public Radio, a member station of NPR, is a 26 station radio network with statewide coverage whose mission is to enrich the civic and cultural life in Iowa through high-quality news and cultural programming. Two of IPR's stations will be celebrating 100 years of broadcasting in 2022, but IPR, as it functions today, was formed by the Iowa Board of Regents in 2004 to manage the day-to-day operations of all the public stations licensed to Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa and University of Iowa.
Kassidy Arena
Kassidy Arena covers the Iowa statehouse for Iowa Public Radio, focusing on undercovered issues of interest to the booming Latino population. She helped cover global human rights violations and conditions during her internship at RUIDO Photo in Barcelona, Spain. She was a host, producer, and reporter for KBIA, the NPR member station in Columbia, Missouri. During the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kassidy continued to report remotely for Missouri News Network about state issues and politics. Kassidy graduated from the University of Missouri/Columbia with a degree in convergence radio reporting and producing in May 2020. She is originally from Berkeley, California but grew up in Omaha, Nebraska.