National Desk: States Team News

In a note to newsroom staff, Ammad Omar, Chief National Editor, made the following announcement:

I’m thrilled to announce that Larry Kaplow and Ryland Barton will be joining the National Desk as editors on the States Team, which covers state governments across the country. 

As you undoubtedly know, Larry has long been NPR’s lead editor on coverage of the Middle East – overseeing reporting in the region since 2014.   He’s overseen NPR’s coverage of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the civil war in Syria, and the US fight against ISIS, among countless other stories.  

Larry reported from the Middle East for 12 years for various outlets before joining NPR. 

After two decades covering the region and doing the vital work of informing Americans about the experiences of people around the world, Larry says he’s looking forward to focusing on the challenges facing the U.S. and the experiences of people around this country.  

The States Team role is a bit of a return to Larry’s roots.  

He spent a decade covering state and local news for newspapers in Florida – and most of that time was in Tallahassee covering state government and the Florida legislature. He coordinated teams of reporters covering legislative sessions and covered the governor’s race between Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush. He saw the rise of the NRA, evangelical politics and other trends in the state that later expanded on the national scene.  Larry begins his new role in early January. 

Joining Larry on the States Team is Ryland Barton.  Ryland joins us from Louisville Public Media, where he most recently served as Managing Editor of Collaboratives. 

In that role, he managed LPM’s state political coverage.  He also edited and assigned news and feature coverage for the Ohio Valley Resource regional news collaborative, where he worked with journalists across several member stations in the area

Ryland spent seven years as the Kentucky Public Radio network’s Capitol Bureau Chief.  He guided political coverage, produced a weekly podcast, and hosted special coverage of the state legislature. 

Ryland can regularly be seen on Kentucky’s PBS broadcaster, KET, discussing issues of the day when it comes to state government in the Bluegrass State. 

He’s looking forward to expanding his state government expertise in this new role, which he started this week. 

Both will be working with States Team Senior Editor Acacia Squires when she returns from leave in early 2024, along with Barbara Sprunt and Elizabeth Baker, who have been deputizing admirably in Acacia’s absence. 

We’re thrilled to welcome Larry and Ryland to the team, and hope you join us in congratulating them. 

Best, 

Ammad 

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