Health writer Mary Meehan has joined the WEKU-FM newsroom as the station’s reporter in the Ohio Valley ReSource, a regional journalism collaborative covering three states.
Meehan, a 15-year veteran of the Lexington Herald-Leader, has written about Kentucky’s high rates of disease, the opiate addiction crisis, and the state’s experience with the Affordable Care Act.
Her work has been honored by the Sunday Magazine Editors Association, the Addiction Studies Program at Wake Forest University and Investigative Reporters and Editors, and she was a 2016 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Meehan also has worked for the Tribune Newspapers in Phoenix and the Orlando Sentinel.
Building on a career in newspapers, Meehan looks forward to using audio, video and data reporting to tell health stories.
“I’m thrilled to be part of such a great, passionate team willing to take a hard look at complicated stories,” Meehan said. “The Ohio Valley ReSource is producing the kind of journalism that really matters in the communities where we live.”
"We're very fortunate to have someone with Mary's experience, knowledge and passion for storytelling join our journalistic efforts,” said WEKU General Manager Roger Duvall. “We're looking forward to hearing her stories that will do for health reporting in our region what NPR does in covering the world."
WEKU is one of seven public media outlets in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia in the Ohio Valley ReSource, which was established in June with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Health is such an important and tough issue for reporters,” said ReSource Managing Editor Jeff Young. “Mary’s deep understanding of the beat and the region will help us better serve the communities we cover.”
Meehan will work with the ReSource team of multimedia journalists to cover health issues affecting the three-state region.
WEKU reaches most of central and southeastern Kentucky through WEKU (88.9 FM in Richmond-Lexington), WEKH (90.9 FM in Hazard), WEKF (88.5 FM in Corbin) and WEKP (90.1 FM in Pineville) along with 106.7 in Frankfort, 96.9 in Barbourville, 96.3 in Harlan, 102.5 in Middlesboro and 95.1 in Pikeville. WEKU also operates a Classic 102.1 – a classical music and classic jazz station in Lawrenceburg serving greater Lexington and Frankfort.