Teaching Assistant Professor
M.S. (West Virginia University)
Ashton Marra joined the college’s faculty in August of 2018, where she teaches news writing, video storytelling and community-focused journalism.
Ashton is the co-founder and co-director of Reporting on Addiction, a collaboration of addiction science experts, professional journalists and journalism educators who share a passion to decrease stigma and improve the way journalists cover addiction and recovery. Reporting on Addiction trains professional and student newsrooms and addiction science experts, creates research-based reporting resources, and has built a network of journalism professionals nationwide who are committed to improving reporting in the space.
Ashton came to the college with a decade of professional experience in both public and commercial media newsrooms in New York City, Ohio and West Virginia, and her reporting has appeared nationally on NPR and PBS, as well as “Good Morning America,” where she worked with correspondents across the country to produce video news stories in the field and in the studio.
She served as the assistant news director for the statewide public television and radio network West Virginia Public Broadcasting and as its lead political reporter, hosting and producing the network's flagship television program “The Legislature Today.” While working in public media, Ashton was also the producer and host of a number of radio programs as well as original podcasts. She was twice named the Associated Press of the Virginias Best Reporter.
Ashton received two degrees from West Virginia University, a B.S. in journalism and M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications.