Vermont Public Radio interview questions

I applied for the News Fellowship position posted on the Vermont Public Radio (VPR) website. I spoke and met with an HR Generalist from VPR as one of the exhibitors for “Think Public Media” at a professional journalism fair (i.e. NABJ/NAHJ and AAJA). I was told the position was created because of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the racial tensions and need for diversity, according to the HR Generalist. I applied for the role and was contacted by the Vice President of News at Vermont Public Radio for a video interview on Zoom. It is a first-round preliminary interview. During the video interview on January 7, 2021, I had an interesting conversation with the Vice President of News about diversity, diverse sources, and issues that matters to the people of Vermont (Vermonters). The News Fellowship at the time of its posting date in September 2020 is a new position that is for a one-year maximum and focuses on news reporting. VPR cannot guarantee full-time employment after the fellowship concludes. I knew as much as I can about Vermont and VPR. VPR is also entering a merger consolidation with Vermont PBS to rebrand themselves as “Vermont Public” in July 2021. VPR did discuss this. VPR competes with all local television, radio, online, and newspaper outlets in the entire Green Mountain state. I had specific questions to ask them about diversity given that Vermont Public Radio is an all-white newsroom and is an all-white company in a rural and small state that the vast majority are Caucasian (White). As a candidate of color, I needed to know what VPR has done diversity-wide beyond opening up a position for a News Fellow. To all prospective applicants, please make sure you ask the company questions about diversity. Do not let VPR or any company sugarcoat and/or deceive you. Two weeks later after I had the video interview, I received the following statement from the Vice President of News by email on January 26, 2021: “Thank you for applying for the news fellowship and talking with me a couple of weeks ago. We have made the decision to move forward with a different group of final candidates. I enjoyed meeting you and best of luck to you.” All I can is that I appreciate speaking to Vermont Public Radio which is a small public radio station. VPR is likely more interested in local candidates from Vermont rather than out-of-state candidates.