Karen Kasler
Bureau ChiefContact Karen at 614-578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.
Karen Kasler grew up in Lancaster, attended Otterbein College in Westerville, and found her professional break at WCBE-FM in Columbus. Karen was selected as a Fellow in the Kiplinger Master's Degree Program for Mid-Career Journalists at Ohio State University in 1994. She worked at WTVN-AM and WBNS-TV, both in Columbus, then for eight years was the afternoon drive anchor and assignment editor for WTAM-AM, Cleveland.
Since returning to Columbus in 2004, Karen has covered major elections and the controversies surrounding them. She served as moderator for the Ohio Debate Commission's Republican US Senate debate in 2022, its Supreme Court debate in 2020 and its gubernatorial debate in 2018. In addition to other election-related debates, she's led forums on statewide issues including redistricting, tax policy, drug sentencing, marijuana legalization and the collective bargaining law known as Senate Bill 5.
She's produced features for NPR and "Marketplace", and has been interviewed by NPR, the BBC, CBS, NBC, Radio New Zealand and stations around the country. She's a regular panelist on ideastream's "The Sound of Ideas" and a frequent guest on WOSU-TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, WOSU-FM's "All Sides with Anna Staver" and WVXU's "Cincinnati Edition".
Karen has been honored by the Cleveland Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Capitol Editors and Reporters, 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 has served 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.
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Groups that work with low-income Ohioans receiving SNAP and WIC benefits are struggling to find ways to help them prepare. -
The Ohio House overwhelmingly passed two property tax related bills that backers say will provide more than $2 billion in tax relief over the next three years. -
Nearly half of Ohio lawmakers who are still alive from the General Assembly that passed the death penalty statute have signed onto a letter calling for a repeal of the law they helped create. -
In Ohio the bus driver shortage is continuing in part because public schools must transport non-public school students. -
A lawsuit filed against the Ohio High School Athletic Association will force a vote of member schools on changing rules on name, image and likeness. -
Both of the candidates in next year's U.S. Senate race in Ohio are reporting big fundraising numbers. -
The Ohio House voted overwhelmingly to approve two property tax related bills similar to provisions Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed in the state budget in June. -
One of Ohio’s two Republican U.S. Senators has proposed a bill that would slap a daily tax on members of Congress during a government shutdown. -
Ohio's food banks are open as usual, though the organization overseeing them is carefully watching the shutdown situation. -
More than a hundred law enforcement officers were involved in the operation aiming to crack down on human trafficking in Ohio.
