Ina Jaffe
Ina Jaffe is a veteran NPR correspondent covering the aging of America. Her stories on Morning Edition and All Things Considered have focused on older adults' involvement in politics and elections, dating and divorce, work and retirement, fashion and sports, as well as issues affecting long term care and end of life choices. In 2015, she was named one of the nation's top "Influencers in Aging" by PBS publication Next Avenue, which wrote "Jaffe has reinvented reporting on aging."
Jaffe also reports on politics, contributing to NPR's coverage of national elections since 2008. From her base at NPR's production center in Culver City, California, Jaffe has covered most of the region's major news events, from the beating of Rodney King to the election of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She's also developed award-winning enterprise pieces. Her 2012 investigation into how the West Los Angeles VA made millions from illegally renting vacant property while ignoring plans to house homeless veterans won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. A few months after the story aired, the West Los Angeles VA broke ground on supportive housing for homeless vets.
Her year-long coverage on the rising violence in California's public psychiatric hospitals won the 2011 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award as well as a Gracie Award. Her 2010 series on California's tough three strikes law was honored by the American Bar Association with the Silver Gavel Award, as well as by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Before moving to Los Angeles, Jaffe was the first editor of Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon, which made its debut in 1985.
Born in Chicago, Jaffe attended the University of Wisconsin and DePaul University, receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy, respectively.
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Half a century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against segregation in schools. Yet patterns of housing and immigration have created in many areas schools that are extremely segregated. NPR's Claudio Sanchez and NPR's Ina Jaffe report from California, where in some places, the level of segregation is as intense as any in 1954.
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As part of our series on the legacy of the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, NPR's Ina Jaffe explores an integrated school in Los Angeles. The ruling's desegregation mandate is challenged today in districts like Los Angeles, where 90 percent of public school students are minorities. But in places like the Sherman Oaks magnet school, it's possible to find blacks and whites, Latinos and Asians sitting side-by-side getting a high quality education.
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In the second part of our series on the Inland Empire, NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that subdivisions are swiftly replacing orange orchards in this area 50 miles east of Los Angeles, and shopping malls are replacing ranches. But some farmers here who want to hang on to their way of life are finding it's still possible.
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California voters approve two ballot measures that will allow the state to borrow a record $15 billion and require a balanced budget. The vote is a major victory for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who called the plan vital to the state's economic recovery and spent considerable time and money pushing for passage. Hear NPR's Ina Jaffe.
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tours the state hoping to convince voters to approve his $15-billion bond measure and a related initiative to limit future spending. The governor says the two ballot initiatives are key to solving the state's fiscal crisis. Analysts say it's Schwarzenegger's fate that may be affected the most by the outcome of the March 2 vote. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.
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California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger has about half the usual amount of time to transform his campaign into a government. Congressman David Dreier heads the transition team. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.
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Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger will be the next governor of California. Initial results indicate the current governor, Democrat Gray Davis, was recalled by a considerable margin. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.
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Many of the people who harvest the abundant crops in Southern California's Coachella Valley have no decent place to live. For the "Housing First" series, NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on one community's attempt to address the housing shortage for migrant workers.
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Many of the people who harvest the abundant crops in Southern California's Coachella Valley have no decent place to live. For the "Housing First" series, NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on one community's attempt to address the housing shortage for migrant workers.
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Opinion polls show that roughly 70 percent of Americans support the war with Iraq. African-Americans, however, have been more reluctant. One poll shows blacks evenly divided, while another shows a substantial majority opposed. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.