Margaret Low Smith, NPR’s senior VP for news, told staff on Tuesday that Susanne Reber, deputy managing editor of investigations, is leaving NPR. The memo doesn’t say where she is headed. After praising Reber’s work, Smith writes, “We remain fully committed to investigative reporting at NPR.”
The memo:
From: Margaret Low Smith
Sent: 08 May 2012 12:44
To: News-All Staff
Subject: A departureDear All,
I want to let you know about a departure. Susanne Reber, our Deputy Managing Editor of Investigations, is leaving NPR this week. In a little more than two years she built a first class team, led the coverage of many important stories and established strong collaborations with other non-profit news organizations including ProPublica, Center for Public Integrity and Frontline.
Under her leadership, the team has tackled investigations on issues ranging from mine safety to traumatic brain injury, flawed autopsies in death investigations, campus rape, communities with toxic air and South Dakota’s questionable system of foster care for Native Americans. For this work, the unit has been recognized with just about every prestigious journalism award.
We remain fully committed to investigative reporting at NPR. I’ve asked Senior National Editor Steve Drummond to add the Investigations Team to his portfolio during this interim period, while we determine next steps for the unit’s leadership.
Please join me in thanking Susanne for her significant contribution to NPR.
All the best,
Margaret
