GRAND RAPIDS — KAXE has hired a second reporter for its news department.
Megan Buffington joined the staff on Jan. 22. She is based in Grand Rapids and will cover northeastern Minnesota communities, contributing to kaxe.org and the Up North Report produced by KAXE News.
Buffington graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in December 2023 and is originally from Pequot Lakes. Her first foray into Minnesota journalism was with the Pineandlakes Echo Journal from May 2022 to January 2023. She has also interned with the Arizona Republic through the Dow Jones News Fund and Nebraska Public Media.
In her first week, Buffington wrote four stories for KAXE. On her first day, she was at Grand Rapids City Hall to cover the swearing-in of the city’s new mayor. She also reported on two local organizations facing funding challenges, the Boys and Girls Club and Mount Itasca. Sen. Tina Smith was in Hibbing on Buffington’s fifth day, and Buffington was at the meeting on the rural EMS crisis.
Buffington said she wanted to work for KAXE because she is passionate about rural issues and local journalism.
“As journalism has shifted and the industry has faced challenges, I think rural areas have been hit the hardest by far,” she said. “I feel like these areas deserve journalism a lot.”
Buffington said she looks forward to writing a variety of stories about the community. Her areas of interest include the environment, education and local government.
Listen above to her introduction on the KAXE Morning Show and subscribe to the Up North Report podcast for her stories and other coverage.
KAXE's news initiative was established in 2023 with foundation funding. The Blandin Foundation provided $500,000 for KAXE’s newsroom for three years, starting in 2023, as part of its new strategic direction to align its resources toward a sustainable, equitable future for rural Minnesota. The Northland Foundation of Duluth added another $50,000 toward the project, spread over two years.
