Karen Brown is a radio and print journalist, based in Western Massachusetts, with a 25-year history of local and national reporting, personal essays, narrative pieces, audio documentaries and podcast series. She focuses on health, mental health, children’s issues, poverty, and other topics on the human condition.

She has been a full-time radio reporter since 1998 for New England Public Radio, the NPR affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her stories have aired nationally on National Public Radio, American RadioWorks, Marketplace Radio, and other outlets. Karen freelances widely for print and online publications, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and Slate. She also teaches journalism and storytelling and consults for reporter trainings and fellowships.