Deepa Fernandes is a journalist with a focus on radio journalism. She has been one of the hosts of NPR's ''Here and Now''. Before that, she hosted the

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic musi ...

radio program ''Wakeup Call'' and the nationally syndicated Pacifica radio news show ''Free Speech Radio News'' on the politically independent, anti-war

Pacifica Radio Network Pacifica Foundation is an American nonprofit organization that owns five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations known for their progressive/liberal political orientation. Its national headquarters adjoins sta ...

. Fernandes has worked as a freelance producer for, among others, the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

, the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, and

Pacifica Radio Pacifica may refer to: Art * ''Pacifica'' (statue), a 1938 statue by Ralph Stackpole for the Golden Gate International Exposition Places * Pacifica, California, a city in the United States ** Pacifica Pier, a fishing pier * Pacifica, a conce ...

Biography

Born in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and raised in Australia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

. Fernandes began her career in journalism in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, working as a daily news reader at

2SER 2SER is a not-for-profit radio station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, broadcasting on the frequency 107.3 FM. It is operated by Sydney Educational Broadcasting Ltd, and co-funded by two Universities, University of Technology Sydney and Ma ...

and then producing a news magazine and radio show about Asia and the Pacific region. She then moved to

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, where she worked on a 26-part

radio documentary A radio documentary is a spoken word radio format devoted to non-fiction narrative. It is broadcast on radio as well as distributed through media such as tape, CD, and podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital ...

series on

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

communities in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. From there she went to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

to work as a daily features producer at

Radio Havana Cuba Radio Havana Cuba (, RHC) is the official government-run international broadcasting station of Cuba. It can be heard in many parts of the world, including the United States, on shortwave frequencies. Radio Havana Cuba, along with Radio Rebelde, C ...

. During this time, she also did long reporting stints in

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

and

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

. Fernandes next moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she went to work as a producer for the flagship

program, ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

''. At Pacifica's WBAI she co-produced ''

Our Americas Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...

,'' a weekly radio program on issues affecting Latin America and the Caribbean, and hosted the weekday morning show, '' Wakeup Call.'' She also has been a co-anchor for Pacifica's national daily news program, ''Free Speech Radio News''. In January 2007, Fernandes spoke with '' Democracy Now's''

Amy Goodman Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957) is an American broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter, and author. Her investigative journalism career includes coverage of the East Timor independence movement, Morocco's occupatio ...

about her new book, ''Targeted: National Security and the Business of Immigration'', published by

Seven Stories Press Seven Stories Press is an independent American publishing company. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Dan Simon in 1995, after establishing Four Walls Eight Windows in 1984 as an imprint at Writers and Readers, and then incorpor ...

. She told Goodman that she "got into secondary inspection rooms around the country, because I had to, because I was coming in the country and I was processed through there."''Democracy Now'' interview
January 25, 2007 Seeing a dearth of reporters of color, low-income reporters, and reporters outside the mainstream, she founded a youth media training program in New York City's public schools, which grew into a national media training organization, People's Production House. While working at WBAI and running People's Production House, she earned an MA from

Columbia Journalism School The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism scho ...

. While in New York, she married multi-media journalist Matt Rogers, with whom she has two children. In 2012, Fernandes was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University. In 2013 Fernandes joined the staff of NPR member station KPCC in Pasadena, California, where she covered a newly established beat on Early Childhood Development. In 2017, she began working as a freelance journalist from around the world for public radio shows, through a reporting fellowship at

Pacific Oaks College Pacific Oaks College is a private college with its main campus in Pasadena, California. The college draws on Quaker principles and focuses on social justice. It offers full and part-time undergraduate and graduate courses at Pacific Oaks' Califo ...

. In 2017, ''SoCal Connected'', a series at

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

that Fernandes reported for, won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. While living in Los Angeles, Fernandes joined the

Los Angeles Press Club The Los Angeles Press Club is an American journalism organization founded in 1913. It honors journalists through its annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and SoCal Journalism Awards. As of 2023, the Los Angeles Press Club hosted ...

board and helped found the Foot In The Door fellowship program for new reporters from communities that are most often excluded from journalism. In 2021, Fernandes and her family moved back to the Bay Area, where she joined the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' as an immigration correspondent and senior newsroom advisor on Race and Equity. In 2022, she joined

Robin Young use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , nationality = American , alma_mater = Ithaca College , occupation = Radio h ...

and Scott Tong on NPR and WBUR's ''Here and Now''. At the end of April 2025, she stepped down from ''Here & Now'' to accept a fellowship in behavioral sciences at Stanford University. Her sister, Sujatha, is an assistant professor of sociology at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

in New York City.

References

External links

Wakeup Call

Targeted: National Security and the Business of Immigration
''

''
Deepa Fernandes on Democracy Now! January 25th, 2007Deepa Fernandes on NPRDeepa Fernandes interviewed on F.A.I.R's CounterSpin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Deepa American alternative journalists American radio journalists American writers of Indian descent American political writers Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Pacifica Foundation people Indian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists American women radio journalists Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American women