Doualy Xaykaothao

Doualy Xaykaothao is a newscaster and reporter for NPR.

She is responsible for writing, producing and delivering national newscasts. She also reports on breaking news stories for NPR's All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition.

Xaykaothao first joined NPR in 1999 as a production assistant for Morning Edition, and has since worked as a producer, editor, director and reporter for NPR's award-winning newsmagazines. She's also worked at Minnesota Public Radio, and at NPR Member Stations: KERA, KPCC and KCRW.

For nearly a decade, Xaykaothao was also a correspondent based in Seoul and Bangkok, chasing breaking news in North and Southeast Asia for NPR. In Thailand, she covered the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. In Nepal, as a 2006 International Reporting Project Fellow, she reported on the effects of war on children and women. In South Korea, she reported on rising tensions between the two Koreas, including North Korea's attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. In 2011, she was the first NPR reporter to witness and cover the aftermath of the Tōhoku earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdowns.

Xaykaothao is a multi-platform journalist whose work has won Edward R. Murrow and Peabody Awards. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Empire, and she has a Master of Arts (Business and Economics concentration) from Columbia University.

For those curious, Doualy means Shadow-of-the-Moon in her native Hmong language. She is a member of an indigenous hill tribe from Asia, born in Laos, but raised in France and the United States.