Danielle Baker Remembered
- Producing Organization
- WBEZ
- Contributing Organization
- WBEZ (Chicago, Illinois)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/50-86b2rp2b
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- Description
- Description
- Once in a while, you come across a young person who has all the talent and joy in the world–a person who reminds you that life is full of promise and possibility. Such was the case with Danielle Baker. Danielle came to us last Spring to intern here on the staff of Eight Forty-Eight , and she made an indelible impact on all of our lives. Her smile was radiant; her energy infectious; and her curiosity and creativity, limitless. Danielle brought many of those talents to bear on Eight Forty-Eight while she was with us. She developed story ideas, booked guests, edited tape, and even went out into the field to gather sounds and stories. Many of those pieces were fun, man-on-the-street interviews – and they all sparkled with Danielle's personality – like the time she asked kids on Navy Pier to talk about their favorite TV shows: VOX POP Danielle loved all aspects of the media and told me once that she wanted to run her own media empire some day, just like Oprah. In addition to her internship with us, she was busy applying to grad school and studying for the GRE. And she did it all while raising her newborn daughter Jasmin and finishing up her college degree. While she interned with us last Spring, she commuted back and forth from Philadelphia every week to finish up her final semester of classes at Temple University. And she still managed to find time to bring us one of the most emotional and compelling pieces Eight Forty-Eight aired last year. It was a story she wrote and produced on her own. ERIN SORENSON CUT 1 Danielle's talents earned her a fellowship from the Chicago Headline Club. And after her time at Eight Forty-Eight came to an end, Danielle spent several weeks working as an intern with the BBC in London. She kept in touch with many of us along the way, filling us in on her grad school applications, job interviews, and the like. She and friend had started publishing a new webzine. In fact, the first issue just arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago. And a colleague told me this week she was planning to travel to New York to interview for a job with CNN. Danielle was a young woman filled with drive and dreams. So all of us were left heartbroken and devastated when we received that news she had passed away this week. She was driving home from an evening appointment with her hairdresser. At the same time, police say a man driving a black Mercedes was careening down the Eisenhower Expressway at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour when he crashed into her car. Her gas tank exploded and Danielle's body was burned beyond recognition. Police say the man driving the Mercedes had a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit. Danielle's death has touched all of us here, and some of you too. We've received numerous emails from people who heard about Danielle's death and reached out to share their condolences. One letter reads: A woman I didn't know died this week. I never met her, but I cannot shake the thought of her. I have found myself searching for articles on her death ever since I came upon the scene of an accident just after midnight on Monday evening while on my way home from the city. The article I read this evening gave her name and age, just three years younger than mine. It talked about her incredible spirit, her drive, and her commitment to her young child and her dreams. Perhaps I am selfish to reflect on my own life and the fragility of all our circumstances in light of a stranger's fate when others who knew her must now deal with such a tangible pain. But nonetheless, I find myself grieving for a young woman who should have been allowed to realize the promise of her potential. We were reminded of that earlier this week when we were listening back to Danielle's feature story on Erin Sorensen. As Danielle was putting the story together, she had a piece of tape that she just loved – but didn't know how to fit it into the rest of her story. So she decided to put it at the end – and its echo even lingers more powerfully now: ERIN SORENSON TAPE 2 Danielle Baker is a name we'll never forget – and her presence has changed the course of all of our lives forever. Music Fade to Black Danielle was just 22 years old when she died. She is survived by her mom and dad, her sister and her 15 month old daughter Jasmin.
- Media type
- Sound
- Credits
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WBEZ
Editor: Drew Hill
Producing Organization: WBEZ
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
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Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ-FM) and Vocalo.org
Identifier: (unknown)
Format: audio/mpeg
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- Citations
- Chicago: “Danielle Baker Remembered,” WBEZ, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 12, 2026, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-50-86b2rp2b.
- MLA: “Danielle Baker Remembered.” WBEZ, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 12, 2026. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-50-86b2rp2b>.
- APA: Danielle Baker Remembered. Boston, MA: WBEZ, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-50-86b2rp2b