Yu Vongkiatkajorn is joining City Cast DC as Managing Editor. She’ll edit the beat reporters’ original reporting and their newsletters. Yu is the second editor hired as part of a major expansion in City Cast DC’s newsroom.
Yu Vongkiatkajorn is an editor who has helped lead coverage and audience strategy at The Washington Post. Most recently, she served as the breaking news and general assignment editor on the Metro desk, where she led a team focused on timely, original stories about life in the Washington region.
Earlier at the Post, Yu worked on initiatives to reach new audiences, helping launch newsletters, podcasts and other editorial experiments in collaboration with product, marketing and analytics teams. She also developed a process for conducting newsroom analyses and providing strategic recommendations.
“When we began looking for the right person to fill this role, one person’s name kept coming up: ‘Yu – have you met Yu?’ ‘Hire Yu,’” said Annie Rees, Senior Executive Producer of City Cast DC.” From the moment we talked with her, it was clear why she was so universally regarded by reporters and editors she worked with. Sharp, clear-headed and creative, with years of Metro and Audience experience to boot, she is a crucial piece in making City Cast DC a local powerhouse.”
Yu will be working alongside Michael Schaffer, City Cast DC’s Executive Editor, to shape CCDC’s new products. “We want to publish impactful, attention-getting journalism about Washington even as the local media environment undergoes a wild shift,” Schaffer said. “Yu immediately got the idea of galvanizing a team to do stuff that connects with an audience and obliges that audience to follow what we're up to.”
Yu began her journalism career at Mother Jones in San Francisco. She grew up in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Emma Uber Joins Cast Cast DC as Reporter
Emma Uber is joining Cast Cast DC as a reporter. She'll write a twice-weekly newsletter with the juiciest, most memorable, most consequential stories playing out in the DMV. Emma is the first reporter hired as part of a major expansion in City Cast DC's newsroom.
Previously, Emma covered local breaking news and public safety for The Washington Post, where she distinguished herself with scoops and sharp stories. Emma began covering D.C. police for The Post just days before President Donald Trump federalized the city's police force and deployed the National Guard. She analyzed thousands of court records to deliver a comprehensive account of how an unprecedented federal law enforcement surge was playing out on the District’s streets and doggedly covered local authorities' relationship with immigration enforcement.
Her reporting on a change to U.S. Park Police's car chase policy caused two Democratic lawmakers to open an investigation and her coverage of federal agents shooting at drivers during traffic stops was referenced as the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation requiring the city police department to release body-camera footage when a local officer witnesses a federal officer shoot someone.
“Emma is a rare talent – a brilliant, passionate, high-energy journalist,” said Annie Rees, Senior Executive Producer of City Cast DC. “With Emma as a reporter, City Cast DC will evolve into the city’s most indispensable – and most fun – place to find local coverage. We look forward to announcing the other reporters who will join Emma in the coming days.”
Hoosier born-and-raised, Emma graduated from Indiana University, where she earned degrees in journalism and international studies. Prior to moving to D.C. and joining the Washington Post in 2024, she covered breaking news at the Tampa Bay Times, interned with Indianapolis Monthly magazine, and worked with the national investigative team at USA Today.
Michael Schaffer Joins City Cast as Executive Editor
Photo By Julia Keane.
Michael Schaffer is joining City Cast DC full-time as a host and executive editor as the national podcast network begins staffing a local Washington newsroom to complement and expand its daily audio and newsletter offerings.
A D.C. native and former editor-in-chief of both Washington City Paper and Washingtonian magazine, Schaffer is one of the most experienced editors and writers in local Washington. During his eight years at Washingtonian, the magazine was twice judged America’s best big-city magazine. He most recently wrote the Capital City column in Politico.
A co-host of City Cast DC since its 2022 launch, he’s developed a reputation with listeners for a deep knowledge of the city, an ability to find humor in the city’s quirks, and a willingness to ask probing questions of political leaders and fellow journalists alike.
Schaffer’s hire comes as City Cast, a nationwide network of local podcasts, is in the midst of an expansion in D.C., with plans to hire a staff of local journalists to focus on robust coverage of city politics, regional business, local culture, as well as the personalities and institutions that make the city tick.
In his new role, Schaffer will continue to anchor City Cast DC’s flagship daily podcast alongside co-host Bridget Todd. He’ll also help shape City Cast DC’s new team of reporters and produce his own column about his hometown at a moment of radical disruption.
Schaffer arrives as City Cast undergoes an unprecedented expansion of its local newsroom, hiring a team of journalists to create original reporting about the D.C. area. The new journalists will enable City Cast DC to roll out additional newsletters, podcasts, articles, and social offerings.
“As he's proved time and time again in the past 30 years, Michael Schaffer is the smartest, most insightful, and funniest observer of local Washington,” said City Cast CEO David Plotz. “He can do it all: Podcast! Report! Write! Edit! With Michael as our Executive Editor, City Cast DC is going to be the city’s must-listen and must-read.”
City Cast is a network of daily local news podcasts and newsletters in 13 cities around the country, covering news, culture, and things to do in your community. Owned by Graham Holdings Co. in Arlington, VA, City Cast aims to be the smartest, easiest way to connect with the place you live and love.
