Director of Training, National Press Club Journalism Institute

Bara Vaida is an experienced journalist who reported on business, consumer, wellness, and policy issues before joining the Institute in August 2023. As the director of training, Vaida is developing and expanding the Institute’s professional development portfolio and training strategy; creating unique learning opportunities for journalists; and producing timely resources for journalists, including the Institute’s afternoon newsletter, The Latest. Through her 30 years as both a newsroom and independent journalist, Vaida has navigated the halls of Congress and has gained an in-depth understanding of corporate, economic, and international business issues, health care policy, lobbying, and technology. She has worked for some of Washington’s biggest news organizations, including National Journal, Agence France-Presse, and Bloomberg News and has been a guest on numerous radio and television shows, including, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill, and WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi show. In 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Vaida served as the core topic leader on infectious diseases for the Association of Health Care Journalists. In that role, she coordinated training and resources to assist her peers as they reported in real time the ongoing health crisis.