Karen Kasler
Contact Karen at 614/578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.
Karen Kasler is a lifelong Ohioan. She grew up in Lancaster, attended Otterbein College in Westerville, and found her first professional break at WCBE-FM, Columbus. Karen was selected as a Fellow in the Kiplinger Program for Mid-Career Journalists at The Ohio State University in 1994. After earning her Master's Degree in that program, she worked at WBNS-TV in Columbus and then moved north to become the afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor for WTAM-AM, Cleveland. Karen followed the demolition and rebuilding of Cleveland Browns Stadium, produced award-winning series on identity theft and the Y2K panic, covered the Republican National Convention in 2000 and the blackout of 2003, and reported annually from the Cleveland National Air Show each year, often going upside down in an aerobatic plane to do it. In 1999, she was a media witness to the execution of Wilford Berry, at the time the first man put to death since Ohio re-instated capital punishment. Karen frequently reported for ABC Radio News, and also co-produced an award-winning nationally-distributed documentary on the one-year anniversary of September 11, 2001, which featured her interview with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge from the West Wing of the White House.
Since returning to Columbus, she's covered major elections and the controversies surrounding them. Each year she anchors the Bureau's live coverage of the governor's State of the State. She was a moderator for US Senate debates in 2012 and 2010, participated in several debates in 2010, and has led debates over statewide issues. She's produced features for 海角社区 and "Marketplace", and has been interviewed by 海角社区, the BBC, NBC and several local and regional stations around the country. She's a regular panelist on WCPN/ideastream's "The Sound of Ideas", a frequent guest on WOSU-TV鈥檚 鈥淐olumbus on the Record鈥� and has appeared on WBNS-TV's "Face the State".
She's been honored by the Association of Capitol Editors and Reporters, the Cleveland Press Club/Society of Professional Journalists, the Ohio Educational Telecommunications Commission, and holds a National Headliner Award. She's won several awards from the Ohio AP, and is a four-time winner of the AP's Best Broadcast Writing award. She's a three-time Emmy nominee for "The State of Ohio". She's a past president of the Ohio Associated Press, and currently on the Board of Directors for the Central Ohio Society of Professional Journalists. Karen is also a former adjunct professor at Capital University in Columbus.
Karen, her husband and their son Jack live on Columbus' northeast side.
-
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is hoping for a vote by the end of the year on the bill, which is supported by all Democrats but only a handful of Republicans in the Senate, including Portman. -
The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered a podcaster 鈥� who denies the results of the 2020 election 鈥� to be listed on the fall ballot as an independent candidate for the state office that oversees elections. Terpsehore "Tore" Maras had appealed a ruling from the assistant secretary of state which dismissed 17 signatures from her petitions. -
The midterms are just weeks away, but for some the battle over the 2020 presidential race rages on. Conservative activists are asking for 2020 voting documents from officials in Ohio and elsewhere.
-
The requests appear to be identical, and they鈥檙e asking for a huge haul of documents, such as all ballots and voter ID envelopes. There鈥檚 a source that seems to be generating the idea. -
Trump's endorsement comes as DeWine has millions in his campaign bank and with polls suggesting he holds a big lead. -
An analysis of Ohio voter registration data also suggests that there's a significant gender gap among new registrants, with women in the lead. -
News that Ohio may be the site of the new plant comes eight months after the announcement that Intel will build a $20 billion computer chip manufacturing facility in central Ohio. -
The candidates for Ohio governor joined 鈥� at different times 鈥� a forum hosted by regional planners and local government leaders. -
Ohio's food banks have asked for $50 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, saying the situation is "severe." -
The Republican governor and lieutenant governor say they advocated for legislation to help Ohio's two nuclear power plants, but that was the extent of their involvement in the controversial bailout plan.
