Paula Vasan is a senior investigative reporter at 5 On Your Side in St. Louis, Missouri.
Paula came to 5 On Your Side in March 2022 from sister-station WHAS11 in Louisville, Kentucky, where she worked as an investigative reporter for three years. She was drawn to investigative reporting because she enjoys building relationships with people.
“I love talking with people, hearing about what’s going on in their lives, and figuring out the hidden reasons behind why certain problems are happening,” Paula said. She said she pairs that curiosity with her passion of making sense of data, with an eye toward solutions.
Throughout her career, Paula has investigated many high-profile stories, including the death of Breonna Taylor, vaping in schools and violence against health care workers, which earned her the “Citizen of the Year” award in 2020 from the Kentucky Nurses Association.
She’s a four-time Emmy Award winner for investigations into seclusion rooms in schools, animal abuse, mail delays and essential oils. She has also been awarded by the Kentucky Associated Press Broadcast competition, and by the National Press Photographers Association for her investigative reporting on LGBTQ discrimination.
Paula’s reporting has effectively changed laws. Her reporting about how Missouri law does not require landlords to provide air conditioning led to a city mayor to pass an ordinance that requires landlords to have heating and air conditioning in rental units. Her continued reporting about violence against health care workers has led to lawmakers filing bills in Missouri to prevent workplace violence in health care.
Her reporting has helped correct wrongs and get people money back into their pockets. She exposed flukes with ATM machines and fraudulent withdrawals with online payment apps, resulting in people getting thousands of dollars returned to them. Her reporting about lack of air conditioning led to one viewer giving an elderly St. Louis man she profiled in her report a total of $6,500 to install central air conditioning.
Passionate about inclusivity in the newsroom and its coverage, she led 5 On Your Side’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force for more than a year.
Before WHAS11, Paula worked as a multimedia reporter at News 12 Networks in New York City where she reported, shot and edited all her own stories; hosted news and entertainment videos that aired on TIME, MSN, Yahoo and other outlets nationwide; worked as a business reporter; and was a freelance reporter for publications including The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, CNBC, CNET and The Huffington Post.
Paula grew up in New York City. She graduated from the University of Maryland where she earned a degree in Journalism and Politics, and was on her university’s Women’s Crew Team.
She’d love to hear from you! You can contact Paula at pvasan@ksdk.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
