Dean I. Wright

Whether I was covering the rescue of 70 dogs in unsafe conditions, reporting on the challenges of state funding cuts to small communities, or helping to better explain a nonprofit's mission to readers, I've sought to excel in the recording of historic events and the creation of content.

I moved to Connecticut in 2020 and reported full-time with Central Connecticut Communications as the Bristol Press city hall and education reporter from 2021 to 2023. While providing coverage for the Bristol Press, I also assisted its sister paper, the New Britain Herald, with weekend coverage in its work within New Britain and the surrounding communities of Plainville, Southington, Plymouth, and Newington.

During my time in New England, I documented Bristol's efforts to revitalize its downtown; the debate of masking in pandemic-era classrooms; the adoption of recreational cannabis sales; residents taking issue with the potential effects of proposed biomedical waste burning in the community's air; and the sudden reversal of a completely Democratic city council into a Republican one. I penned a feature about the rise of a former city resident to Air Force brigadier general and the paths and opportunities that helped her reach such an achievement. I explored local concerns and data surrounding sheltering insecurity issues and winter emergency needs; the thoughts of protestors concerned with a rise in white supremacist fliers and rhetoric within the city along with its government's reaction; as well as municipal charter change debates surrounding mayoral term limits and more.

I began reporting full-time in 2015 for Ohio Valley Publishing in Gallipolis, Ohio, along the border of West Virginia. For the next five years, I provided written, video, and photo content for the Gallipolis Daily Tribune, covering local and Appalachian regional issues while growing the paper's social media presence. I wrote enterprise and breaking news pieces surrounding the challenges of housing, education, social services, criminal justice, poverty, and government while also reporting on the difficulties of the Appalachian opioid epidemic during the 2010s. Among coverage of several elections and regional policy talks, I interviewed Ohio's governor, attorney general, congressmen, senators, and state supreme court justices. I recorded concerns of inmate families surrounding the deaths of three inmates and the funding challenges of the county jail.

In works concerning nonprofit organizations, I frequently wrote about the performances of the Ohio Valley Symphony in the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre; the creation of the Gallipolis Railway Freight Station Museum as well as the ongoing educational efforts and outreach of the John Gee Black Historical Center.

Through my efforts covering the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College, I highlighted academic projects that sought to inspire students, brought light to the challenges in Appalachian post-secondary education and highlighted award-winning programs.

As the Tribune senior reporter I also assisted with coverage for the area's tri-county sister papers, the Pomeroy Daily Sentinel in Ohio and the Point Pleasant Register in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. All were Associated Press member papers.

I graduated from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in Athens, Ohio in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism.

As the Tribune senior reporter I also assisted with coverage for the area's tri-county sister papers, the Pomeroy Daily Sentinel in Ohio and the Point Pleasant Register in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. All were Associated Press member papers.