Jessica Bakeman
Jessica Bakeman reports on K-12 and higher education for WLRN, south Florida's NPR affiliate. While new to Miami and public radio, Jessica is a seasoned journalist who has covered education policymaking and politics in three state capitals: Jackson, Miss.; Albany, N.Y.; and, most recently, Tallahassee.
Jessica first moved to the Sunshine State in 2015 to help launch POLITICO Florida as part of the company’s national expansion. She is the immediate past president of the Capitol Press Club of Florida, a nonprofit organization that raises money for college scholarships benefiting journalism students.
Jessica was an original member of POLITICO New York’s Albany bureau. Also in the Empire State, Jessica covered politics for The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. As part of Gannett’s three-person Albany bureau, she won the New York Publishers Association award for distinguished state government coverage in 2013 and 2014. Jessica twice chaired a planning committee for the Albany press corps’ annual political satire show, the oldest of its kind in the country.
She started her career at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson. There she won the Louisiana/Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors’ 2013 first place award for continuing coverage of former Gov. Haley Barbour’s decision to pardon more than 200 felons as he left office.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and English literature from SUNY Plattsburgh, a public liberal arts college in northeastern New York. She (proudly) hails from Rochester, N.Y.
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The tragedy in Parkland, Fla., this year kicked off a national debate over how to reduce school violence: through tighter security and tougher discipline ... or more help for troubled students? -
Middle schoolers in Miami are writing poetry and persuasive essays about school safety policies for a student magazine they hope will convince Congress to pass laws to prevent mass shootings. -
More and more schools are investing in technologies that scan social media posts, school assignments and even student emails for potential threats. Privacy experts say the trade-offs aren't worth it. -
The families allege the school board, sheriff's office and others in Broward County failed to prevent the 2018 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead. -
A Florida state commission has issued a draft report into the school shooting in Parkland earlier this year. Its suggested policy changes may be considered by schools across the country. -
Hospitals are preparing for how to handle mass shootings in case the next one is in their backyard. One difficult call is whether to lockdown the facility, which can have emotional consequences.
