Lauren Chooljian

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Lauren Chooljian
Born (1987-12-29) December 29, 1987 (age 36)
Hampstead, New Hampshire, U.S.
Alma materSaint Anselm College (BA)
Northwestern University (MS)
OccupationJournalist
Years active2011–present
Spouse
Matt Baer
​
(m. 2017)​

Lauren Chooljian Baer (born December 29, 1987)[1] is an American radio journalist. She is a senior reporter and producer for New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR). She previously worked for WBEZ in Chicago.

Early life and education[edit]

Chooljian was born and raised in Hampstead, New Hampshire.[2] Her mother, Carrie, is a social worker; her father, Barry, is the former longtime coach of Timberlane Regional High School's decorated wrestling program and is of Armenian descent; and she has a younger sister, Cara.[3][4] Chooljian worked as a camp counselor in Hampstead for at least seven summers.[5] She represented New Hampshire at Girls Nation, a national youth civic forum in Washington, D.C., in July 2005.[6] She went to high school at Pinkerton Academy, where she served as president of the chorus and co-president of the school council, graduating in 2006.[6][7]

Chooljian went to college at Saint Anselm in New Hampshire, where she was a member of the field hockey team and graduated with a bachelor's degree in history in 2010.[8][9] She grew more interested in journalism after she watched a 2008 presidential primary debate at Saint Anselm and got to interview Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.[7][10] In 2009, she interned for CBS News in New York City.[10] She went to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, near Chicago, to earn her master's degree in journalism in 2011.[2]

Career[edit]

Chooljian began her journalism career after college as an intern for the National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate WBEZ, reporting on local politics in Chicago.[7] She stayed at WBEZ for almost six years, reporting and producing stories in a variety of fields—including politics for most of Rahm Emanuel's mayoral tenure—and occasionally serving as a guest host.[3][10]

In 2017, Chooljian returned to her home state to work for another NPR affiliate, New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR).[2] Ahead of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary elections in 2020, she and Jack Rodolico co-hosted Stranglehold, an investigative NHPR podcast about the primary's history and national influence.[3] Members of the New Hampshire media variously praised and criticized Stranglehold for examining the outsize electoral power of "one small state".[3]

In March 2022, NHPR published an investigation by Chooljian that revealed allegations of sexual misconduct against Eric Spofford, the founder of Granite Recovery Centers, a major drug rehabilitation network in New Hampshire.[11][12] Beginning in late April 2022, Chooljian's home and several homes connected to her were repeatedly vandalized with thrown bricks and red spray paint.[11][13] In one incident, the words "Just the beginning!" were graffitied onto the side of her house in Melrose, Massachusetts, and her window smashed with a brick.[11][14] Law enforcement investigating the incidents said they were possibly in retaliation for her reporting on Spofford (who denied involvement in the attacks).[11][13] In September 2022, Spofford filed a libel lawsuit against Chooljian and NHPR, something the American Civil Liberties Union described as chilling toward free speech; a superior court judge dismissed the suit in April 2023.[15][16] However, later in the month the judge requested that Chooljian provide the court with anonymized transcripts of her interviews.[14] In June 2023, NHPR published The 13th Step, a podcast about the misconduct allegations and the apparent repercussions of reporting on them.[14][17]

Personal life[edit]

Chooljian met her husband, Matt Baer, in Chicago in August 2013. They got married at the Rocks Estate in New Hampshire on September 2, 2017, shortly before Baer began going to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Birthday: "Lauren Chooljian". Twitter. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
    Age (25) in February 2013: Chooljian, Lauren (February 4, 2013). "Year 25". WBEZ. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Lauren Chooljian". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Tracy, Marc (February 9, 2020). "'Losing Friends' Over How She Covers the New Hampshire Primary". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  4. ^ Vartabedian, Tom (April 17, 2010). "Chooljian Earns National Acclaim in Wrestling". Armenian Weekly. Retrieved June 7, 2023. Dyer, Dave (September 16, 2019). "End of an Era: Chooljian built wrestling dynasty, will retire after next season". The Eagle-Tribune. Massachusetts. Archived from the original on February 10, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  5. ^ Williams, Penny (July 10, 2008). "Veteran counseling staff makes summer program work in Hampstead". The Eagle-Tribune. Massachusetts. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Shuffleton, Nancy (August 19, 2005). "Girls Nation experience for N.H. teens". The Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Anderson, Kathryn (Spring 2020). "Lauren Chooljian - Class of 2006" (PDF). Pinkerton Alumnus (alumni magazine). Pinkerton Academy. p. 9. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Lauren Chooljian - 2008 - Field Hockey". Saint Anselm Athletics. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  9. ^ "Memorable Moments". Saint Anselm College. June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  10. ^ a b c "Highlights of Alumni Who Majored in English: New Hampshire Public Radio - Lauren Chooljian, class of 2010". Saint Anselm College. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d Edwards, Jonathan (June 1, 2022). "4 homes tied to journalist hit with bricks, graffitied with spray paint". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  12. ^ Chooljian, Lauren (March 22, 2022). "He built New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network. Now, he faces accusations of sexual misconduct". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Rinde, Meir (May 26, 2022). "Law enforcement investigating vandalism targeting homes of NHPR journalists". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c Enrich, David (June 6, 2023). "A Reporter Investigated Sexual Misconduct. Then the Attacks Began". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  15. ^ Fisher, Damien (January 31, 2023). "Spofford's Attorney Tells Judge NHPR Engaged in 'Reckless Disregard' of Facts". NH Journal. InsideSources. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  16. ^ Bookman, Todd (April 18, 2023). "Judge dismisses defamation suit against NHPR filed by New Hampshire drug recovery leader". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  17. ^ "The 13th Step: New podcast from NHPR's award-winning Document team streaming now". New Hampshire Public Radio. June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  18. ^ Raczka, Rachel (January 24, 2018). "A radio reporter gets married on a Christmas tree farm". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2023.

External links[edit]

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