Ketzel Levine is an American
radio journalist
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
who began her broadcast career in 1974. She joined
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
(NPR) in 1977 and worked, variously, as the network's arts producer, sports director, features reporter and garden expert. From 2000 through 2008, she was senior correspondent for the NPR program ''
Morning Edition
''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...
''. At the end of that year, due to cutbacks at the network, Levine was
laid off
A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...
, while working on a documentary series about Americans coping with
economic stress and job loss. Her final NPR broadcast was about how she, herself, had just lost her job.
Broadcast career
Levine's academic background was in music and communications. Her first job in broadcasting was at the full-time, non-commercial classical music station
WMHT-FM
WMHT-FM (89.1 MHz) is a listener-supported, non-commercial radio station licensed to Schenectady, and serving the Capital District of New York. It has a classical music radio format, with most programming originating in-house, but with some s ...
in Schenectady, NY. She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1977 to work at NPR, where she produced the arts magazine, ''Voices in the Wind.'' In 1979, she became part of the original staff of ''Morning Edition'', where she remained until moving to London to report for the
BBC World Service. While abroad, she also freelanced for NPR,
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and the BBC domestic service. She returned to NPR full-time as its arts reporter in 1986. In 1990, she took up studies in horticulture, began her own landscape and design business, and in 1992 became NPR's horticultural reporter, the "Doyenne of Dirt", broadcasting for the next ten years on NPR's ''
Weekend Edition
''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program '' Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday ...
'' with
Scott Simon
Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) is an American journalist and the host of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' on NPR.
Early life
Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons. . During this time she was also a contributing writer for ''Horticulture Magazine'', a features writer for ''
Martha Stewart Living'' and a contributing writer for ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...
''. In 2000, she publishe
'Plant This!'(Sasquatch Books, 2000).
In 2000, Levine became a senior correspondent for ''Morning Edition.'' In 2007, she expanded her horticultural reporting with the year-long special program, "Climate Connections". She also produced and reported for the series, "Take Two: People Reinventing Themselves Through Their Work", and at the time of her dismissal, was producing and writing a series documenting the effects of the economic crisis, "American Moxie: How We Get By".
Levine's career with NPR ended on an ironic note when she was one of 64 people laid off in December 2008, as she was producing the "American Moxie" series. In her last series installment, she reported about her own layoff.
Horticultural career
Levine studied at the
George Washington U School of Landscape Design. She began her own business, Hortus Landscaping, in 1991, then later began a career writing about horticulture, botanizing, and lecturing for garden clubs, botanic gardens and arboretums. After moving to Portland, OR in 1996, she became the northwest regional correspondent for Horticulture Magazine and a contributing editor for The Oregonian. Her newspaper plant profiles were published in the book
Plant This!(Sasquatch Books, 2000). Levine's own garden has been featured in several magazines, includin
Portland Monthly A profile of Levine and her garden was published in th
February 2011 issue of Sunset Magazine
Animal rescue
Following her layoff from NPR, Levine pursued a lifelong interest in
animal welfare. She began writing for the
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...
and working for the Portland office of In Defense of Animals (IDA). In September 2010, she became the volunteer creative and communications director for The Animal Rescue Association of the Americas, the first professional association for animal
rescue group
An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take unwanted, abandoned, abused, or feral, stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run ...
s. she was in Ecuador pursuing local animal rescue efforts.
Personal life
Levine lives in Portland, Oregon.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Ketzel
American radio reporters and correspondents
NPR personalities
American broadcast news analysts
Journalists from Oregon
The Oregonian people
Animal welfare workers
George Washington University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American women radio journalists