Jason DeRose ‘97 is National Public Radio’s Religion Correspondent, reporting on the ways belief shapes American public life and the ways American life shapes religious expression. He served previously as NPR’s Western Bureau Chief, editing news coverage from Member station reporters and freelancers in California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada,
Alaska and Hawaii. He also edited coverage of religion and LGBTQ+ rights for the National Desk.
Before joining NPR, Jason worked as an editor, reporter, host and producer at public radio stations in Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis and Tampa. His work has been recognized by the Religion News Association (RNA), for two awards from the organization for pieces he reported and three for stories he edited. Jason has also earned awards from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists’ Association (NLGJA) for coverage of the intersection of religion and LGBTQ+ rights as well as coverage of non-binary communities.
Outside of public radio, Jason worked as an oral history interviewer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., a nursing home chaplain in Chicago, and a journalism trainer at the International Center for Journalists in Washington, D.C. He has taught journalism ethics, radio reporting, multimedia storytelling and religion reporting at DePaul University in Chicago and at Northwestern University and frequently guest lectures in journalism classes at the University of Southern California. He is an active member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Santa Monica, California and previously served on the board of Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat center in Washington state’s Cascade Mountains.
Jason holds a master of divinity from the University of Chicago and studied religion reporting at Northwestern University. He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from St. Olaf College with majors in religion and English, and received St. Olaf’s 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award.
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