NPR hires Deepa Fernandes as third host of ‘Here & Now’

NEW YORK (AP) — Deepa Fernandes, most recently immigration correspondent and senior newsroom advisor on race and equity issues at the San Francisco Chronicle, is becoming the third host of NPR’s midday news program “Here & Now,” the public radio outlet said Friday.

She will join current hosts Robin Young and Scott Tong on Oct. 10.

Before joining the Chronicle, Fernades had extensive public radio experience and has worked in Mexico, Cuba, Ecuador and other countries in Latin America and Asia.

NPR received some attention a year ago for an exodus of minority hosts for other jobs outside the company. They included Tonya Mosley, Fernades’ predecessor at “Here & Now,” and Audie Cornish, who left for the ill-fated CNN+ streaming service, which was quickly shut down.

Beyond the hiring of Fernandes, NPR points out that in the past year or so, Leila Fadel, Ayesha Rascoe, Juana Summers and A Martinez have all been elevated to more prominent roles hosting news programs at the service.