Natalie Yahr

Natalie Yahr is a reporter for Wisconsin Watch and Open Campus, where she reports on how Wisconsinites are finding good, safe, family-sustaining jobs — and what’s getting in their way. Her stories have explained why foreign-trained doctors often struggle to restart their careers in Wisconsin, what’s keeping Wisconsin high schools from offering more college classes and what Wisconsinites need to know about the latest changes to financial aid and student loans.

Previously, she covered the Madison-area economy for the Cap Times, where she tracked local union drives, explored why home care workers in Wisconsin make so little and investigated a moving company whose surprise bills sometimes topped $30,000. She has also written for the Center for Journalism Ethics, Columbia Journalism Review and the New York Times. “Why Should I Tell You?,” her 2019 guide to less- extractive reporting, has been read by journalists and added to journalism school curricula across the country. She’s received awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Society for Professional Journalists and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Before becoming a full-time journalist, Natalie lived in New Orleans, where she trained as a Spanish-English interpreter and coached adult students working to earn their high school equivalency diplomas.

This bio reflects the fellow’s work and affiliations as of their fellowship year.