Fernando Alfonso III

Fernando Alfonso III is a supervising editor who manages a team of editors and reporters responsible for powering NPR.org.

Alfonso recently worked for CNN where he was part of its live news team responsible for leading breaking news efforts across the network. He led coverage of Kobe Bryant's death, the Astroworld tragedy and the Black Lives Matter protests. Before CNN, Alfonso worked for the Houston Chronicle where he was part of the team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for its Hurricane Harvey coverage.

At the Herald-Leader, Alfonso covered Appalachia's opioid crisis and produced an award-winning investigative series on a controversial family court judge. Before moving to the commonwealth, Alfonso was one of the Daily Dot's first staff writers covering Reddit and 4chan. He was also the company's first art director. During this time, Alfonso produced a GIF-filled travel series that culminated in a panel at South by Southwest. Alfonso's first job in journalism was at the Post-Standard. While at the newspaper, he conducted a series of late-night stakeouts that resulted in an award-winning investigative story that ended up getting two public officials fired roughly a day after it ran.

Alfonso grew up in New York's Hudson Valley region. He received his master's degree in magazine, newspaper and online journalism from Syracuse University, where he was also awarded its Newhouse Graduate Newspaper Fellowship for Minorities. Prior to that, Alfonso earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Connecticut. One of his professors was the inspiration for Robin Williams' character in the "Dead Poets Society." Alfonso is an avid letter writer and cyclist.