David Schaper
David Schaper is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, based in Chicago, primarily covering transportation and infrastructure, as well as breaking news in Chicago and the Midwest.
In this role, Schaper covers aviation and airlines, railroads, the trucking and freight industries, highways, transit, and new means of mobility such as ride hailing apps, car sharing, and shared bikes and scooters. In addition, he reports on important transportation safety issues, as well as the politics behind transportation and infrastructure policy and funding.
Since joining NPR in 2002, Schaper has covered some of the nation's most important news stories, including the Sandy Hook school shooting and other mass shootings, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, California wildfires, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and numerous other disasters. David has also reported on presidential campaigns in Iowa and elsewhere, on key races for U.S. Senate and House, governorships, and other offices in the Midwest, and he reported on the rise of Barack Obama from relative political obscurity in Chicago to the White House. Along the way, he's brought listeners and online readers many colorful stories about Chicago politics, including the corruption trials and convictions of two former Illinois governors.
But none of that compares to the joy of covering his beloved Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in 2016, and three Stanley Cup Championships for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
Prior to joining NPR, Schaper spent almost a decade working as an award-winning reporter and editor for WBEZ/Chicago Public Media, NPR's Member station in Chicago. For three years he covered education issues, reporting in-depth on the problems and progress — financial, educational and otherwise — in Chicago's public schools.
Schaper also served as WBEZ's Assistant Managing Editor of News, managing the station's daily news coverage and editing the reporting staff while often still reporting himself. He later served as WBEZ's political editor and reporter; he was a frequent fill-in news anchor and talk show host. Additionally, he has been an occasional contributor guest panelist on Chicago public television station WTTW's news program, Chicago Tonight.
Schaper began his journalism career in La Crosse, Wisconsin, as a reporter and anchor at Wisconsin Public Radio's WLSU-FM. He has since worked in both public and commercial radio news, including stints at WBBM NewsRadio in Chicago, WXRT-FM in Chicago, WDCB-FM in suburban Chicago, WUIS-FM in Springfield, Illinois, WMAY-AM in Springfield, Illinois, and WIZM-AM and FM in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Schaper earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications and history at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a master's degree in public affairs reporting at the University of Illinois-Springfield. He lives in Chicago with his wife, a Chicago Public School teacher, and they have three adult children.
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Flights have been canceled, and highways and bridges in some areas along the southeastern coastline are expected to close ahead of the storm's landfall. -
The former congressman and White House chief of staff will not seek a third term in office in 2019. "This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime," he said. -
The U.S. is on pace to record close to 40,000 roadway and highway deaths this year. But there is some evidence that drivers are texting less behind the wheel. -
Ordering stuff online instead of driving to the mall might not be reducing traffic congestion after all, but adding to it, as Amazon vans and UPS trucks delivering those goods clog our streets.
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The Federal Aviation Administration is refusing to regulate the size of airline seats, saying it sees no evidence that filling smaller seats with bigger passengers slows emergency evacuations. -
Many immigrant families say they are more anxious and fearful than ever that even those here legally may be rounded up and deported. Many Hispanic Americans in particular are living on edge. -
Memorial Day weekend kicks off the start of the summer vacation season, and this year gas is up and plane tickets are slightly cheaper. Here's what else you need to know if you're planning a getaway. -
Since President Trump came into office, it sometimes feels like every other week is infrastructure week. But why have there been so many?
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The actor was best-known for his 11-year stint on the NBC hit, but he was a veteran of the Chicago theater scene before making his way to the New York stage. -
Safety advocates and federal investigators have railed against a "lax safety culture" within Amtrak in recent years, but investigators warn against attributing four recent crashes to a systemic issue.
