Laurel Wamsley
Laurel Wamsley is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She reports breaking news for NPR's digital coverage, newscasts, and news magazines, as well as occasional features. She was also the lead reporter for NPR's coverage of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
Wamsley got her start at NPR as an intern for Weekend Edition Saturday in January 2007 and stayed on as a production assistant for NPR's flagship news programs, before joining the Washington Desk for the 2008 election.
She then left NPR, doing freelance writing and editing in Austin, Texas, and then working in various marketing roles for technology companies in Austin and Chicago.
In November 2015, Wamsley returned to NPR as an associate producer for the National Desk, where she covered stories including Hurricane Matthew in coastal Georgia. She became a Newsdesk reporter in March 2017, and has since covered subjects including climate change, possibilities for social networks beyond Facebook, the sex lives of Neanderthals, and joke theft.
In 2010, Wamsley was a Journalism and Women Symposium Fellow and participated in the German-American Fulbright Commission's Berlin Capital Program, and was a 2016 Voqal Foundation Fellow. She will spend two months reporting from Germany as a 2019 Arthur F. Burns Fellow, a program of the International Center for Journalists.
Wamsley earned a B.A. with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar. Wamsley holds a master's degree from Ohio University, where she was a Public Media Fellow and worked at NPR Member station WOUB. A native of Athens, Ohio, she now lives and bikes in Washington, DC.
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In bodycam footage, the officer is heard making callous remarks about a woman who died after being hit by a police cruiser. He reportedly told investigators he was mocking what city lawyers might say. -
The five former police officers face charges of excessive force, deliberate indifference and witness tampering for the January death of the 29-year-old Nichols. -
Danelo Cavalcante "is considered armed and extremely dangerous," police say. "He is now armed with a .22-caliber rifle with a scope and flashlight mounted on it," stolen from a resident's garage. -
The embattled president of Spain's soccer federation has left his job. A furor arose after he kissed a star player on the mouth after the Women's World Cup final. -
It was the fourth time the Coast Guard has intercepted Reza Baluchi on his attempts to self-propel his homemade vessel to destinations including Bermuda, New York and London. -
Spain's soccer federation named Montse Tomé as head coach of the women's national team, the first woman in the role. She was assistant coach to Jorge Vilda, who was dismissed on Tuesday. -
What had once been a sport associated largely with white girls is increasingly dominated by women of color. And more elite gymnasts are competing in the NCAA while they go for the gold. -
Spain's World Cup victory was supposed to be a moment of triumph, but it was overshadowed when the head of the country's soccer federation planted an unwanted kiss on one of the team's star players.
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Spain's government and FIFA have begun disciplinary proceedings against Luis Rubiales for his non-consensual kiss of player Jenni Hermoso at the tournament final. Rubiales is refusing to resign. -
A union speaking for Jenni Hermoso, the player who was kissed, called for "intervention in the face of sexual harassment or abuse." Spain's soccer federation scheduled an emergency meeting on Friday. -
The Fulton County sheriff says he'll treat the former president according to the jail's normal practices. That includes taking a booking photo, which could become a famous — or infamous — image. -
A furor erupted after Luis Rubiales kissed player Jennifer Hermoso at a ceremony. "It was an unacceptable gesture and Mr. Rubiales' apologies are not enough," the acting prime minister said.
