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
Philadelphia named first ‘Sensory Inclusive City’
Some 16,000 city workers have undergone special training to help people with sensory disorders.
1 year ago
Listen 1:09A vision of past, present, and future at Philadelphia City Council’s final session of 2023
Mayor Jim Kenney says goodbye and Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker says hello in address to City Council’s final meeting of the year.
1 year ago
Listen 0:59Jim Kenney looks back on 8 years as Philadelphia mayor on WHYY’s ‘Studio 2’
“Some people just need to go away,” Kenney said when asked about his future plans for public life.
1 year ago
Listen 1:03The group, Parker referred to as her “kitchen cabinet,” will come up with the structure for the future of Philadelphia’s government.
1 year ago
Listen 1:13Philly immigrant groups accuse federal officials of preying on people passing through courthouse
The group says immigration officials are lurking inside and outside the courts to catch undocumented immigrants and hold them.
1 year ago
Fatal stabbing at Center City Macy’s alarms many
The stabbing happened just before 11 a.m. Monday at 13th and Market streets, one block from City Hall.
1 year ago
Philly City Council approves ski mask ban despite pleas from advocates
The goal of the ban is to cut down on violent crime committed by those wearing masks to conceal their identities.
1 year ago
Bethel is currently head of security for the school district and formerly served as the city's deputy police commissioner.
1 year ago
Philabundance and other nonprofits get help from additional Pennsylvania tax credit funding
An extra $35 million in tax credits through the Neighborhood Assistance Program is designed to help for-profit companies do more for nonprofits.
1 year ago
Philadelphia Reparations Task Force solicits members, plans to officially launch in February
The task force will create a report for City Council on how reparations can ‘atone for the legacy of slavery.’ They hope to start their work in February.
1 year ago
Listen 1:18Philly police go high tech on reporting nuisance businesses
The goal of the effort is to streamline the reporting of nuisance complaints in Philadelphia.
1 year ago
Philly police to get 5% raise as part of one-year contract extension
The extension gives the incoming Parker administration an opportunity to sort out its finances while they figure out a new proposal to give to an arbitrator.
1 year ago