Marlon Hyde ’21 selected as first VPR News Fellow

Marlon Hyde ’21

Vermont Public Radio has hired Marlon Hyde ’21 as its first News Fellow, the station announced Thursday.

Marlon Hyde is graduating from Saint Michael’s College this spring with a degree in media studies, journalism and digital arts. Originally from Queens, New York, he comes from a family of storytellers.

“Every evening my parents, brother, and I would tell each other about our days, but we’d do it differently than a lot of families,” Hyde said. “We filled our stories with details, energy, and humor and we’d find ways to bring a story to life. It even got to the point where I started to learn my parents’ coworkers’ names!”

Hyde built on his storytelling, writing and reporting skills while studying abroad in Morocco in 2020, where he created content for Reporting Morocco, an online news magazine. During his first week on the job, he covered a protest where Moroccans were marching to parliament to show solidarity with Palestine. He said that experience solidified for him the power of stories to connect people and build empathy and awareness.

“Storytelling is incredibly important to me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to join Vermont Public Radio as a news fellow,” Hyde said.

Sarah Ashworth, VPR’s vice president of news, said that Hyde brings a strong sense of exploration and creativity to his work and his thinking about public media.

“His reflections on growing up in a family of storytellers makes clear he understands the power of stories to connect people,” she said. “We’re excited for him to join our newsroom as a reporter to cover some of the most pressing issues in our state and improve and expand our coverage of all communities.”

The news fellowship was created as part of VPR’s Diverse Voices Initiative, a donor-funded commitment to expanding who covers news in Vermont and helping give voice to underserved communities. The year-long fellowship recruits new or early-career journalists with life experience or other knowledge that will contribute to a broader understanding of all the communities VPR serves.

“In conjunction with work to expand our sources and the issues we cover, we hope more people will be able to see and hear themselves in our coverage,” Ashworth said. “We believe our journalism and our organization can be stronger by bringing in more perspectives and experiences.”

Marlon will join VPR in late May.