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
Rate of campus assaults ‘staggering,’ Meehan says
A joint city-suburban Philadelphia group is sending information to Washington on some staggering college campus crime numbers and how to ...
12 years ago
Listen
Passing information — possibly the collection plate — in Philadelphia
After traveling to Rome last month to meet with Pope Francis, a Philadelphia delegation will brief business and civic leaders Tuesday mor ...
12 years ago
ListenPhiladelphia fleet manager says they can’t take in outside work
With budgets so tight these days for both the City of Philadelphia and the school district, members of City Council are looking for ways ...
12 years ago
Listen
Philadelphia Sheriff says he’s short-staffed
Philadelphia’s Sheriff says he’s very short-staffed and a new family court building will make things worse. < ...
12 years ago
ListenFire escape inspections under microscope in Philly
In January, an apartment fire-escape collapsed, killing one and injuring two others in Philadelphia. City Council is mulling wheth ...
12 years ago
ListenDueling letters over selling Philadelphia Gas Works
Philadelphia’s Mayor and City Council President are arguing about the fate of Philadelphia Gas Works through letters. The mi ...
12 years ago
Listen
Proposal for high-tech displays in Philly greeted by signs of disapproval
A suburban Philadelphia man is proposing a new type of sign for the city. But an activist objecting to a proliferation of signs in the ci ...
12 years ago
Listen
Bill to sell PGW on hold for now
Mayor Michael Nutter has sent the framework of a bill to City Council to sell the Philadelphia Gas Works to UIL Holdings, a private utili ...
12 years ago
Listen
Philly police amplifying efforts to recruit minorities
The Philadelphia Police Department is developing new tactics in an effort to recruit new members, particularly minorities, to join the fo ...
12 years ago
Listen
Philadelphia launches robocalls to pester posters of ‘bandit’ signs
Philadelphia has a new weapon to battle illegal signs that sprout like stubborn weeds all over the city. City officials are getting obnox ...
12 years ago
ListenGoode wants accurate reporting of minority participation in Philadelphia
By law Philadelphia cannot set quotas for hiring minority contractors. But a City Councilman says he can’t even get an accur ...
12 years ago
ListenPhiladelphia bans sale of e-cigs to minors
Two bills governing the use of electronic cigarettes or e-cigs have been signed into law in Philadelphia. The city’s b ...
12 years ago
Listen