He currently covers Montclair and Essex County for Montclair Local.

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

He first cut his teeth covering politics, government and policy, crime, education and more for The Jersey Journal, and reported stories out of Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne and more in Hudson County, NJ.

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 on Twitter and Bluesky, @cwmcdonald_