Chris has shown interest in Gov't + Politics, Wealth & Poverty, Cultural Diversity, Public Health, Environment

About Chris Hoff

I'm a 28 year-old freelance journalist from San Francisco, but it took me some time to get to this point. I graduated from Cornell University in 2002 with a B.A. in Classics (Greek and Latin). From 2002 to 2006 I lived in Weimar and Berlin, Germany, working in multiple capacities: English Teacher at The Bauhaus University Weimar; Freelance Translator (German-English); Travel Guide contributor (Berlin); Assistant at a German-American political organization "Atlantik-Bruecke" (Berlin); and Journalism Intern at both Deutsche Welle T.V. (Berlin) and CNN International (Berlin). After four years abroad, however, my "Americanness" began calling me again: I realized I was lacking some fundamental intellectual and expressive outlets that a different language-culture cannot provide, so I decided to move back to San Francisco in 2006.

 Since the move I have been working almost exclusively with KALW public radio in San Francisco. My interests in journalism and media lie mainly in radio and forms of audio media: a friend of mine and I have been doing a podcast for about 2 years as well (www.casualarts.net). Otherwise I am very much interested in literature (Classical, German, and American, among others), some philosophy to an increasing degree (Thoreau, Emerson, and Nietzsche), American folk and blues music, and making sure I don't forget my German and Ancient Greek.

 Please take a look at some of the stories I've done for KALW to get a feel for my work.

Work Samples

San Francisco City Health Insurance Negotiations When it came time to renew health care coverage for city workers this year, San Francisco and Blue Shield engaged in some hard-line negotiations. Emancipated Foster Youth When they turn 18, foster youth in California are discharged, or 'emancipated' from the system. About 4,000 emancipate from California's foster system every year. Almost overnight, most go from receiving state-subsidized room and board to having to pay their own way for housing, food, and all of life's other necessities. Reporter Chris Hoff takes a look at the potentially difficult transition for youth who age out of foster care. Immigrant Workers and Pear Farmers This story starts about 1/4 of the way in. In 2006, Lake County, CA, had a bumper crop of pears. But with a shortage of immigrant laborers to pick the trees, the pears were left rotting on the trees.

Work History

Freelance Reporter and Producer