About Melanie
Melanie Saltzman reports, shoots and produces stories for PBS NewsHour Weekend on a wide range of issues including public health, the environment and international affairs. In 2017 she produced two stories for NewsHour’s “America Addicted” series on the opioid epidemic, traveled to the Marshall Islands to report on climate change, and went to Kenya and Tanzania to focus on solutions-based reporting. Melanie holds a BA from New York University and an MA in Journalism from Northwestern University, where she was a McCormick National Security Fellow. In 2010, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in Berlin, Germany.
Melanie’s Recent Stories
Nation Jun 07
How a break in the nation’s food supply caused regional food companies to soarDuring the first months of the pandemic, as industrial meat plants closed and grocery stores experienced shortages, some mid-sized local food companies saw an unexpected boom in business. As people across the country sheltered in place, they turned to these…
Economy May 03
Meat plant closures trickle down to grain productionIowa is the largest producer of pork and corn in the U.S. As many meat processing plants shut their doors due to COVID-19, demand for pigs plummeted. The effects have trickled down the supply chain to the farmers who raise…
Health Apr 19
Fostering pets is helping some better cope with the pandemicThousands of New Yorkers have responded to pleas from animal shelters looking to find homes for pets amid the COVID-19 crisis. And it turns out, fostering animals also has emotional and physical health benefits for the humans taking care of…
Nation Apr 11
Family holiday traditions go virtual during the pandemicThis Holy Week, celebrated by Christians worldwide, coincides with the Jewish holiday Passover, when people often join family for religious gatherings. But these aren’t normal times. NewsHour Weekend’s Melanie Saltzman recently met a neighbor who is finding ways to cope…
Nation Mar 07
How women in Iowa are leading farmland conservation effortsEach year, produce like corn and soybeans are grown on millions of acres of Iowa farmland. While the bulk of the farming is conducted by men, roughly half of the state's farmland is owned, or co-owned, by women. Mark Bittman…
Nation Feb 15
Cultural institutions celebrate women’s suffrage centennialThe year 2020 marks the centennial anniversary for women's suffrage, when the 19th amendment took effect giving some women the right to vote in U.S. elections. And on Saturday, one of the movement's key figures, Susan B. Anthony, would have…
World Feb 02
Lebanon’s refugees use technology to fight food insecurityHigh poverty and unemployment rates among the world's 26 million refugees means that many are struggling with food security after fleeing their home countries. But in Lebanon, a U.N. pilot program is trying to use technology and digital innovations to…
Science Feb 01
WFP uses new tech to fight refugee food shortages in JordanJordan is home to an estimated 3 million refugees, and the country's harsh terrain makes supplying food for them difficult. But to combat the food shortages, the U.N. World Food Program is using technologies like iris scans to track refugee…
Arts Jan 18
Black Comic Book Festival draws thousands in HarlemNew York's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture celebrated the tradition of black comics this weekend with its annual Black Comic Book Festival. Thousands attended the two-day exhibition in Harlem, which also featured screenings, panel discussions and a cosplay…
Health Dec 28
Making NewsHour Weekend: A year of reporting on the “Future of Food”This year, the NewsHour Weekend special series “Future of Food” covered global efforts to produce and consume food sustainably and ethically. The producers behind the series, Megan Thompson and Melanie Saltzman, joined Hari Sreenivasan to discuss their reporting and how…