GBH News launches Equity and Justice reporting unit

GBH News has launched its new Equity and Justice reporting unit, a team of journalists dedicated to reporting on equity and opportunity gaps in Greater Boston and beyond. GBH News Executive Editor Lee Hill will oversee the unit, which will be led by newly-appointed Equity and Justice unit senior editor, Paul Singer. Also joining the Equity and Justice unit are newly hired reporter Trajan Warren, senior digital producer Meghan Smith, and community producer Magdiela Matta.

Based at the GBH newsroom in Brighton, the Equity and Justice unit has begun developing multiplatform regional and national stories that aim to explore and expose injustice at all levels of society. Key to the effort is a continued and expanded commitment to community events, engaging directly with audiences and elevating community voices.

“GBH News has built a remarkable body of award-winning local journalism over the years that lays a strong foundation for this investment in deep listening and collaboration with the communities that most need to be heard,” said GBH News Editor-in-Chief Dan Lothian. “We know that the trust our Equity and Justice unit builds with sources and audiences is key to producing the reporting on the critical issues of inequity that an informed citizenry relies on.”

The GBH News Equity and Justice unit will extend its reach throughout Massachusetts through a new content collaboration with MassLive, the top digital source of news and pro sports coverage in Massachusetts. The collaboration between GBH News and MassLive will result in distinctive local stories being shared across radio, digital, and social media platforms from both news organizations. A MassLive reporter will work with the GBH News Equity and Justice unit to produce stories that will also publish on MassLive, and will join GBH News programs to provide context.

Content produced by the Equity and Justice unit will be distributed across all GBH News properties, including GBH flagship radio shows, YouTube, social and digital platforms, and via GBH News’ Connecting the Commonwealth partners, New England Public Media (NEPM) in western Massachusetts, and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station, and the New England News Collaborative (NENC).

“Many of GBH News’ most impactful stories have touched on systemic injustices and the ways in which marginalized communities are blocked from progress. We’re thrilled to assemble this accomplished group of journalists fully dedicated to bolstering our capacity to listen and engage with underserved audiences,” said Hill. “Together, our Equity and Justice unit, with the added power of our reporting and distribution collaboration with MassLive, will also be a resource to inform all of GBH News’ reporting, ensuring that overlooked angles are considered from pitch to publication.”

The GBH News Equity and Justice unit began reporting in August 2024 with stories about the selling of vacant lots, land previously owned by Black and brown families, by the city of Boston; rising awareness about kids and adults who are neurodivergent or have autism following a viral moment at the Democratic National Convention; concerns about health inequities surrounding Tobin Bridge repairs in Chelsea, MA; and more.

Meet the GBH News Equity and Justice Unit: 

Paul Singer, Senior Editor: 

Since 2018, Singer has been the investigations editor at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. He has reported and edited major investigative projects including The Color of Public Money, which uncovered a shocking dearth of government contracts for minority-owned businesses in Massachusetts – and the Life After Prison series which documented the challenges faced by thousands of people in the state returning from incarceration each year. Singer also served as editor for the GBH podcast What Is Owed? which examined Boston’s attempt to establish reparations for its Black residents for centuries of slavery and economic exclusion. Before moving to Boston in March 2018, Singer spent six years as Politics Editor and Washington Correspondent at USA TODAY, where he directed and produced coverage of legislation, political campaigns and congressional ethics. The five years prior he spent running an investigative unit for the congressional newspaper Roll Call.

Trajan Warren, Reporter 

Trajan Warren most recently covered banking, finance, professional services, and sports business often through a lens of equity for the Boston Business Journal. Before that, he worked in higher education communications at Elon University in North Carolina after a stint at the Triad Business Journal covering higher education, health care, banking, and innovation. He graduated from East Carolina University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in communication.

Meghan Smith, Senior Digital Producer 

Smith has worked at GBH for five years in digital production and reporting roles, and for the past two years, she has been reporting on local disability communities. She has won several journalism awards, including a New England Emmy, regional Edward R. Murrow award and a Public Media Journalists Association award. Originally from Maine, she attended Boston College, earning a degree in Political Science and holds a Master’s degree in journalism from Harvard Extension School.

Magdiela Matta, Community Producer

Matta comes to GBH News from the PRX Podcast Garage where she served as a Community Manager, supporting emerging voices in audio storytelling. She also previously worked at WBUR on the Endless Thread podcast and with the ARTery arts and culture newsletter.

The unit is being supported with a $750,000 grant from the Barr Foundation. The grant will help GBH News continue transforming its capacity to cover equity issues across healthcare, education, transportation, housing, and more.

About GBH:

GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. GBH is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services GBH WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station and as a partner to NEPM in Springfield. Dedicated to making media accessible to and representative of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to audience members who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. With PBS LearningMedia, GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide. GBH’s local programming includes Boston Public Radio, Stories from the Stage, The Culture Show, and High School Quiz Show. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.