As a reporter for The Times-Picayune, Lee covered Hurricane Katrina as it happened. He had arrived in New Orleans only four months before.[1] Lee says that he was given the opportunity to evacuate on August 29 by another editor, but chose to stay and cover the story. His article "Nightmare in the 9th Ward all too real for one woman" was published on September 1, 2005—exclusively online because the newspaper could not be printed.[5]
The New York Times
From 2006 to 2010, Lee was a staff reporter for The New York Times, where he primarily covered Harlem.[6] During this period, Lee also reported from Albany and Brooklyn and contributed to a series of videos called "New York On Less".[4]
The Huffington Post
In March 2011, Lee was hired to cover "national issues that impact the black community" for Huffington Post's Black Voices. The move was a consequence of AOL's acquisition and expansion of Huffington.[4][7]
Reporting on Trayvon Martin
Lee did not learn of Trayvon Martin until more than a week after the teenager's death, but he was one of the first national reporters to cover the story, for Huffington Post's Black Voices on March 8, 2012. He continued filing stories on the case nearly every day that month. He believes that his "early coverage definitely helped light the fire ... Before we pushed the story, few if any major national news outlets were covering it."[8][9] Lee appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss the story multiple times.[10]
MSNBC
In November 2012, Lee joined MSNBC as a national reporter for its digital unit, reporting on social justice issues and the impact of politics and policy on everyday people.[11] Lee described his move to MSNBC as a chance to "flex different muscles" as a journalist.[12]
In February 2020, Lee began hosting the MSNBC podcast Into America.[13]
Awards
Pulitzer Prize
"Nightmare in the 9th Ward all too real for one woman" was one of the ten stories cited when The Times-Picayune staff won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2006. Lee shared the award with three other reporters, Doug MacCash, Manuel Torres, and Mark Schleifstein.[2][14] The award marked the first time a Pulitzer was awarded for online journalism.[5] Lee also contributed to coverage of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal by The New York Times, which won the Breaking News Pulitzer three years later.[4][15]
Other awards
In 2006, Lee was named Emerging Journalist of the Year (one of three) by the National Association of Black Journalists.[1] The New York chapter of the association gave him the Griot award in 2011.[4] In April 2012, Lee won the April Sidney Award from the Sidney Hillman Foundation for his coverage of the Trayvon Martin case.[8] His alma maters Rowan University and Camden County College have both recognized him as outstanding among their alumni.[5][16] In 2021, Lee won "Podcast Host of the Year" at the Adweek Podcast Awards.[17]
^"A Storyteller with Purpose"(PDF). Alumni profile. The Hershey Legacy. Summer 2006. p. 6. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 3, 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
