Dori: Seattle homelessness reporter Choe lands new gig

When investigative reporter Jonathan Choe parted ways with KOMO 4 TV in late March over his coverage of homelessness and street crime, many of his viewers worried he would leave Seattle.

But Choe told The Dori Monson Show Thursday that he has landed a new role that will allow him to do deeper investigations into the area’s homelessness crisis.

“My big fear was that you were going to leave the region,” Dori told Choe.

No such thing. Choe has been named a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth & Poverty, a Seattle-based think tank.

His new position will be “primarily focusing on the homelessness crisis and crime, picking up where I left off,” Choe told Dori.

“I want to be very clear: I’m going to be a straight street reporter with a video narrative,” Choe continued.

A 20-year news veteran, Choe will contribute to fixhomelessness.org, a website with a reporting focus on the root causes of homelessness.

“What I’m going to do is spotlight and tell those stories that have not been told, bring in outside stories and perspectives, and maybe some solutions,” Choe said.

“This fellowship will allow me to have the time and resources into these deep-dive investigation,” Choe continued. “Bottom line, it’s about accountability and transparency. . . I’m chasing it.”

Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.