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
New Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker sworn in, immediately declares public safety emergency
Cherelle Parker formally took the oath of office and delivered a passionate inaugural address, vowing to address the city's challenges.
4 months ago
Listen 1:03Mayor-elect Parker announces more key appointments, vows to take time to make right decisions
Parker said she’s not filling her positions until she has the right people for the jobs.
4 months ago
Philly fire commissioner tapped to be city’s next managing director
Thiel, who has led the city’s fire department since 2016, says he’s ready to take on the challenge. “As our folks will say in the fire department," he said, “‘We got this.’”
4 months ago
Listen 1:00New blueprint offers 140 ways to stop violent crime in Philly
The blueprint plan comes from suggestions offered at a daylong event earlier this year.
5 months ago
Listen 1:14Chopper 6 crash kills 2 workers at Action News; cause under investigation
The pilot and photographer died as a result of the helicopter crash Tuesday night as they returned from an assignment at the Jersey Shore.
5 months ago
Philadelphia named first ‘Sensory Inclusive City’
Some 16,000 city workers have undergone special training to help people with sensory disorders.
5 months 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.
5 months 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.
5 months 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.
5 months 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.
5 months 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.
5 months 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.
5 months ago