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Investigative reporter appointed to ‘innovation lab’
DALLLAS-FORT WORTH, Texas — An award-winning investigative reporter from McCook has been named to a CBS News lab dedicated to explore next-generation storytelling.
Nicole Vap, a 1987 McCook High School graduate and daughter of Mary and the late Doug Vap of McCook, was one of four investigative journalists recently named to the local news innovation lab in Dallas-Fort Worth.
She has been appointed executive producer of content development for the project.
According to Adrienne Roark, president of CBS stations, “Vap is joining the local news innovation lab after having been a pillar in the investigative journalism community for more than two decades at KUSA-TV in Denver. Vap has served for six years on the board of directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors, an organization that honored her and her team for a series of stories exposing medical billing companies taking consumers’ homes for outstanding bills.
In addition, Vap has received two Edward R. Murrow awards. And she and her KUSA colleagues received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award for uncovering an elaborate rental scheme designed to defraud people whose homes were in foreclosure.
“Working with the incredible journalists across CBS News and Stations means we have a real opportunity to make a huge difference, showing how much we all have in common, and how much stronger we can be through a deeper understanding of the issues that affect all of us everywhere,” Vap said. “I am looking forward to helping this team lead that conversation, and showing the impact of empowered, creative local journalists across the country.”
The team, with more to be added later, is “empowered to experiment with next-generation storytelling, such as data journalism, and test new products, workflows and production models for the future, according to the release.
As one of the “benefits” of the pandemic, Vap will be working from her home in Denver.
She has "two amazing daughters" — Zelda Sidener who lives in Chicago and is graduating from Columbia College and Harper Sidener who is graduating from the Denver School of the Arts. Her husband, Drew, is the creative services director at KCNC in Denver, the CBS affiliate.