He covers Montclair and Essex County for Montclair Local.

He was previously a staff writer with VTDigger, Vermont's largest newsroom, where he covered education and contributed to coverage of the Vermont Statehouse and the General Assembly.

He first cut his teeth covering politics, government and policy, crime, education and more for The Jersey Journal, reporting stories out of cities like Jersey City, Hoboken and Bayonne.

He has won awards from both the New Jersey Press Association and New England Newspaper & Press Association for his coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, police and courts, religious issues, housing and development, business and economic issues, and more.

He graduated from West Virginia University, and is a proud Mountaineer. Reach him at cmcdonaldreporter at gmail dot com, and on Twitter and Bluesky, @cwmcdonald_