Shelley Kofler
News Director/Managing Editor/ReporterFormer KERA staffer Shelley Kofler was news director, managing editor and senior reporter. She is an award-winning reporter and television producer who previously served as the Austin bureau chief and legislative reporter for North Texas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV.
Her expertise on legislative policy issues includes school finance, foster care and transportation; and her stories on the overmedication of foster children captured the attention of state officials who strengthened laws for the use of psychotropic drugs.
Shelley also covered government issues for North Texas NBC affiliate KXAS-TV and worked with KERA on numerous public affairs projects including nationally broadcast programs. She has reported on statewide elections and presidential primaries since the late 1980s. She also founded and operated her own communications firm, Kofler Communications, in Dallas and Austin. She served as a communications strategist and media trainer for various companies, agencies and public officials.
Shelley and the KERA news team received numerous journalism awards for their public radio and television work. In addition to all-staff honors she was individually singled out with a first place Edward R. Murrow award for a series of reports on the Trinity toll road decision; first place honors for political reporting from the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Association and the Houston Press Club.
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In the past month, Texas voters have seen a lot of Leticia Van de Putte, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor. But they haven't seen nearly as… -
The education issue has taken center stage in the race for lieutenant governor as the two state senators duke it out on the airwaves. Both have been… -
Texas is facing drought and a booming population. There's a unique project in North Texas that hopes to meet the state's growing thirst for water: A… -
In addition to the many candidates on the Nov. 4 ballot, Texans are voting on a constitutional amendment known as Proposition 1. If it passes, a portion… -
Two weeks of early voting begins Monday and the candidates for governor are working to get their supporters to the polls.On Sunday, Democrat Wendy Davis… -
Get out your voter ID and head to the polls -- early voting begins today and continues through Oct.31. Then it's on to Election Day, Nov. 4, when Texans… -
The Supreme Court said Saturday that Texas can use its controversial new voter identification law for the November election.A majority of the justices… -
On Monday, early voting begins in Texas. If you haven’t heard a lot about it, that might be because the evolving Ebola crisis in Dallas has overwhelmed… -
KERA and its media partners -- The Dallas Morning News and KXAS-TV (NBC 5) -- continue Five Days in October, a week-long report about issues the… -
A federal court today confirmed that Texas voters will need a valid photo ID when early voting begins next Monday. A lower court ruled last week that the… -
Greg Abbott, the Republican running for governor, says opponent Wendy Davis' TV ad that uses a wheelchair to represent him is "offensive." Abbott, who is… -
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte says her Republican opponent for lieutenant governor is fear-mongering with his first fall television ad released this week.The…
