I’m a print and audio journalist currently covering higher education at the Los Angeles Times, with a focus on community colleges and California State University — two of the largest systems in the nation.
Before that, I covered PK-12 schools at WAMU, the NPR affiliate in Washington, D.C, where I chronicled how students, families and school workers managed during the pandemic and dealt with its lasting consequences.
At the Washington Post, I covered Virginia schools, where my reporting examined seclusion and restraint in public schools, persistent racial disparities in high performing school districts and the fight for more protections for transgender students.
Early on in my career, I was a county reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va. I wrote about beleaguered roadside motels, the threat high-speed rail posed to rural landowners and dilapidated public housing.
I was previously an interviewer and editor at Artifact, a company that created podcasts and oral histories for everyday people.
My work has also appeared on Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as The Buffalo News, New York Daily News, USA Today, PennLive/Patriot-News and U.S. News & World Report. I have been a guest on NPR’s 1A; Vox’s Today, Explained; WBUR’s Here & Now and HLN, among others.
I currently serve on the board of the Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles chapter. I am available for freelance reporting, writing, editing and fact-checking work.
email // dbtruong23@gmail.com linkedin // https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbietruong/