Clay Masters
Clay Masters is Iowa Public Radio’s Morning Edition host and lead political reporter. He was part of a team of member station political reporters who covered the 2016 presidential race for NPR. He also covers environmental issues.
Clay joined the Iowa Public Radio newsroom as a statehouse correspondent in 2012 and started hosting Morning Edition in 2014. Clay is an award-winning multi-media journalist whose radio stories have been heard on various NPR and American Public Media programs.
He was one of the founding reporters of Harvest Public Media, the regional journalism consortium covering agriculture and food production in the Midwest. He was based in Lincoln, Nebraska where he worked for Nebraska’s statewide public radio and television network.
He’s also an occasional music contributor to NPR’s arts desk.
Clay’s favorite NPR program is All Things Considered.
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To save money, Iowa recently turned over its Medicaid recipients to private managed care companies. Now, some companies are losing money and some people say they're not getting necessary care. -
Many conservative lawmakers and pundits are critical of President Trump for talking to Democrats about immigration. But Trump's voters don't seem to mind. -
The trailer in a human smuggling case in Texas that left 10 people dead belonged to a small-town trucking company in Iowa. The incident has helped raised awareness among truckers.
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Distrust in the media has become a oft-cited trope in the cable news cycle. But one staple of American journalism seems to have avoided the "fake news" characterization — small-town newspapers. -
While members of Congress are home in their districts for spring break, one Republican is getting some extra scrutiny at home. Rep. Rod Blum of Iowa is the only member of the Freedom Caucus who also represents a swing district that's a top target for Democrats in 2018.
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About 180,000 state and local government workers would be prohibited from negotiating over issues such as health insurance and extra pay. The bill is high on the state GOP's legislative agenda. -
In North Dakota, a lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow motorists to run over and kill any protester obstructing a highway as long as the driver did not do it intentionally. -
Donald Trump chose Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as ambassador to Beijing because of old ties with President Xi Jinping and Iowa's history of trade with China. Branstad will have a tough job. -
At Iowa freshman Sen. Joni Ernst's motorcycle ride and barbecue fundraiser, Trump didn't attend the ride but addressed participants, in a much-needed bid to draw support from influential GOP leaders. -
Hillary Clinton's campaign is relying on a network of youthful organizers to turn out millennial voters in order to win Iowa, a state Barack Obama carried twice.
