Shwetha Surendran joined ESPN’s Investigative and Enterprise Unit in January of 2023 while still a student at American University, becoming a fulltime writer in October of that year. She was the inaugural fellow for ESPN’s investigative journalism fellowship with the university.
Based in Washington, D.C., she covers topics such as prediction markets, player health and legislative developments using data analysis, FOIA and public records laws. Being based in the Nation’s Capital also gives her access to federal government hearings, landmark Supreme Court cases and lawmakers who work on policies that shape sports and the industry.
In 2025, she collaborated with ESPN investigative reporters Paula Lavigne, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Elizabeth Merill on a longform investigation examining the life outcomes of NFL players who were nearing retirement age, including a survey of 550 players from the 1988 season. The project was a finalist for two prestigious writing awards.
A native of Madurai, India, she began her journalism career in 2017 as an editorial intern at The Hindu in her hometown, then became an editorial intern and features writer for The New Indian Express. In 2021, she began contributing content for Blue Wire Podcasts in Boston, then worked at an investigative reporting workshop in Washington in September of 2022.
She has Master’s degrees from American University (Investigative Journalism and Public Affairs) and Boston University (Journalism), and a Bachelor’s degree from Stella Maris College in India. She also completed a post-graduate fellowship at Ashoka University.
She is an active member of AAJA (Asian American Journalists Association), IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors) and NICAR (National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting). She enjoys reading, art and traveling.
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