The New Pine Plains Herald has hired Shuchi Shah as a staff reporter, adding a journalist with training in data, public records, and local accountability reporting as the nonprofit newspaper expands its newsroom and deepens coverage across the communities it serves.
Shah, 28, joins the Herald after interning with the paper in the summer of 2025. She holds a master’s degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, where she focused on data journalism and local accountability reporting, covering community and local government news in Queens and environmental issues across New York City.
In her new role, Shah will serve as the Herald’s full-time general assignment reporter, covering the institutions, issues, and people shaping daily life across the paper’s five-town service area: Pine Plains, Ancram, Gallatin, Milan and Stanford.
“We can’t say how happy we are to have Shuchi return after her successful summer internship. Having a second full-time employee, someone who can expand our coverage, is a huge milestone for the Herald,” said Hank Hersch, president of the Herald’s board of directors.
“Shuchi is a strong addition to our newsroom,” said Patrick Grego, editor-in-chief. “We’re excited to have her reporting on the issues that matter most to the communities we serve.”
Shah said she was drawn to the role by the chance to do grounded, community-centered reporting.
“I’m interested in reporting on the civic and environmental issues that directly shape how people live here,” Shah said. “As someone who just moved to the Hudson Valley, I also think there is so much to learn from everyday observation and getting to know the people here. I’m really looking forward to all the conversations that are in store!”
Shah earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and English literature in 2020 from Pandit Deendayal Energy University in India, where she said her interest in public affairs first took shape. She began her journalism career through internships at The Indian Express, a national daily, and the People’s Archive of Rural India, a digital platform that documents everyday life across the country. She moved to New York in 2023.
Shah said local journalism appealed to her because of the way it helps communities understand broader events through the lens of everyday life.
“I think there is so much value in actively bearing witness to all the ups and downs a place goes through and documenting it,” she said. “When there is so much happening in the world at all times, local journalism takes the time to ask, what does this mean for us? How is this impacting our town? It’s also important because it’s an act of listening, a way of paying attention to the concerns and voices of residents, and holding power to account on the ground level.”
She said one of the things that has stood out to her about the Herald’s service area is the level of public participation.
“I like how much civic engagement there is,” Shah said of the region. “People here show up — they follow the local government and are actively engaged in the issues.”
Founded as a nonprofit local newspaper, the Herald covers government, schools, arts, development, and daily life across Pine Plains, Ancram, Gallatin, Milan, and Stanford, with a mission of providing readers with a free and reliable source of rigorous, community-centered local journalism. The paper has long relied on a dedicated team of local volunteers and contributors. Since Grego was hired as editor-in-chief in February 2024, he had served as the publication’s sole full-time employee. Shah’s hiring marks an important milestone in the Herald’s growth.
“I’m so excited to be a part of the Herald!” she said. “To me, the paper’s work feels so embedded in the communities it serves, as opposed to just covering them from a distance, which I appreciate. I’m so excited to be working alongside this ambitious and dedicated group of journalists.”
Readers with news tips, story ideas or community updates can reach Shuchi Shah at shuchi.shah@newpineplainsherald.org