
WHYY reporter Tom MacDonald is a lifelong Philadelphia-area resident who has worked in the region since the mid-1980s. Tom started in commercial radio covering the MOVE standoff with police for WFIL-AM. He was also City Hall Bureau Chief, covering government and politics for more than a decade, for WWDB-FM.
Tom has been heard on numerous stations in the region during the decade he worked for Metro Traffic, doing news, traffic, and weather.
Tom has also been heard nationally, filing reports for NPR, ABC News Radio, NBC Radio, and CBS Radio.
He has won the Associated Press award for his coverage of the protests of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and a Religious Communicators award for a post-9/11 documentary he did with the late Peter Jennings.
More from the Contributor
Philly City Council seems smitten with container tax, but Mayor Kenney not sold
With time running out for a final budget deal, many in Philadelphia City Council are working on ways to avoid voting for a sugary drink t ...
9 years ago
ListenSugary drinks tax gets love at Council hearing
Supporters of Mayor Jim Kenney’s proposed soda tax made their case Wednesday at a City Council hearing on the school district’ ...
9 years ago
ListenSanders supporters promise peaceful protest during DNC
While fears grow of a divisive fight in the Democratic Party this summer, supporters of Bernie Sanders have announced plans for a peacefu ...
9 years ago
ListenPhilly Supt. says $600 million budget hole is just five years away
Representatives of the School District of Philadelphia came to City Council to talk dollars — and sense. Schools Superintendent W ...
9 years ago
ListenPhilly gets hundreds of complaints about FIOS service availability
In just a few days, the city of Philadelphia has received a flood of information about sites where Verizon’s ...
9 years ago
ListenPhilly school district’s green initiatives in need of some greenbacks
As the School District of Philadelphia rolled out its sustainability plans in City Hall, one sustainable element was missing — the ...
9 years ago
ListenPhiladelphia moves to ban pre-employment credit checks
A new bill approved by a Philadelphia city council committee would prohibit using credit reports in hiring decisions. Rue La ...
9 years ago
ListenSupt. Hite to have his own test — going before Philly City Council
The School District of Philadelphia comes to City Council to testify Tuesday. This year will be different than the past few ones.&n ...
9 years ago
ListenPhiladelphia asks for help verifying FIOS availability
The city of Philadelphia wants help from the public to verify that Verizon has fully deployed its FIOS broadband network. P ...
9 years ago
ListenFormer Temple president Peter Liacorus dead at 85
A well known leader in Philadelphia academic circles died Thursday after a prolonged illness. The acres of diamonds speech, ...
9 years ago
ListenAudit verifies serious problems facing school district
Pennsylvania’s Auditor General spent a year and a half inspecting the Philadelphia Public Schools’ records. He found so ...
9 years ago
ListenPhilly not the best place for new grads to work
A new study shows there could be some good reasons for Philadelphia’s so-called “brain drain.” The city did not fare we ...
9 years ago
Listen