Sean McMinn
Sean McMinn is a data editor on NPR's Investigations team.
Based in Washington, D.C., McMinn reports stories in collaboration with journalists across NPR's network of member stations. He previously worked in the newsroom's News Apps/Visuals team.
McMinn came to NPR from CQ Roll Call, where he covered Congress and politics for three years as a data reporter. While there, he built interactives to help Americans better understand their government, and his reporting on flaws in FEMA's recovery programs led to the agency making changes to better serve communities struck by disaster. He also took part in an exchange with young professionals in North Africa and has spent time in Egypt and Tunisia teaching data visualization and storytelling.
Before that, McMinn taught multimedia journalism to interns through a fellowship with the Scripps Howard Foundation.
He is also an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and at American University.
McMinn is an alumnus of the National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Fellowship and has served as vice-chair at the National Press Club's Young Members Committee. He has also directed the Press Club's Press Vs. Politicians Spelling Bee fundraiser, which pits members of Congress against journalists to raise funds for the club's non-profit journalism institute.
McMinn is from Thousand Oaks, Calif. He holds a journalism degree with a statistics minor from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, where he was a reporter and editor on the student newspaper, Mustang News.
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Trees are one of the best ways to fight deadly urban heat, but U.S. cities lose millions every year. And many low-income areas are starting at a disadvantage. -
Hotter neighborhoods tend to be poorer in dozens of major U.S. cities. That extra heat can have serious health effects for those living there. -
For the first time, President Trump is spending more on staff than Barack Obama did during his final year as president. -
Bipartisan negotiators are working on a border security funding deal — but both sides are still sorting out what kind of "wall" or "barrier" is in and whether President Trump will sign it. -
The maker of controversial e-cigarettes spent $750,000 on lobbying during the last three months of 2018, a dramatic increase over $210,000 it spent in the second quarter of the year. -
Low pay combined with a high cost of living make it even more of a challenge for those who suddenly find themselves without a paycheck.
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The 116th Congress has 127 female members — 102 of them in the House. That's far more than the previous record, but it also is far from gender parity.
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Even as public distaste for gerrymandering led to a wave of successful ballot initiatives this fall, plenty of lawmakers are still trying to make sure they control how political boundaries are drawn. -
New research shared exclusively with NPR suggests that Pyongyang is refining its weapons technology through open scientific research. China leads the way in scientific collaboration with North Korea. -
These metro areas saw the most dramatic turnarounds in this election from red to blue — and were responsible for Democrats taking back the House.
