Bryan McGonigle, Editor / Reporter
What was the most challenging Beacon story?
The teacher strike. Not only was it continuously breaking news but also it involved complex issues that readers needed explained clearly and factually.
Tell us about your professional background.
I came to the Beacon from Gannett, where I was their Massachusetts State House Reporter. My first paying job in journalism was writing the obituaries for my local paper. I became a reporter there and then got my master’s degree at BU while working in Washington, D.C., covering Congress. Returning to Massachusetts, I wrote or edited for Northshore Magazine and Patch.com as well as Gannett.
What Beacon story you’ve covered has had the most impact?
The MBTA Communities Act rezoning. Our coverage was cited during City Council meetings as the Council was debating which parts of the city to rezone and which to scale down. It contributed to an entire manufacturing block being added to the plan.
What’s your favorite way of dealing with the stress of deadlines?
Taking a quick walk while listening to music. Playing with my dogs.
What is an issue you haven’t had a chance to write about yet?
Flooding. Our region is increasingly under water.
Madhri Yehiya, Reporter
What stories are you looking forward to covering for the Beacon?
As the Beacon’s new education reporter, I am excited to look into how NPS plans to use its new budget, as well as issues involving sustainability, free speech and AI use in the schools. Most of all, I want to be a listening ear to the diversity of voices within Newton, and plan to cover affordable housing and city politics as well.
What has been the most difficult/challenging story you’ve done, and where did it run?
In grad school I reported on a behind-closed-doors negotiation between USC’s infamous Title IX office and a professor accused of sexual assault by multiple students. The story ran in LA Public Press and highlighted how USC helped plan the professor’s early retirement in exchange for the internal investigation being dropped. A court case later filed by one of the accusing students unearthed incriminating emails that I used for my reporting.
Outline your professional journey prior to joining the Beacon.
I just spent a rewarding last year reporting on public health in New Orleans. Before that, I got a master’s degree in investigative journalism at USC Annenberg in Los Angeles. I first fell in love with reporting while editing and managing the Daily Free Press at BU for three years as an undergraduate. I also interned at CNN while in college and have experience with print, broadcast and multimedia reporting.
What about the Beacon and Newton motivated you to join the team?
Everyone I’ve met on the Beacon team so far has been so welcoming and helpful. The newsroom is small but mighty and has done a great job of covering the city since it launched. I am a big fan of nonprofit news and love to see an outlet that is so community oriented, from its management to its editorial staff.
I also grew up in a small town in Rhode Island with a strong public school system that matters deeply to residents. I am drawn to Newton because it reminds me of home, just on a bigger scale.
Burt Granofsky, Photographer / Reporter
What is the most challenging story you’ve done for the Beacon?
Stories like the one I did for the Boston Marathon because I do both photos and a narrative. The narrative requires interviewing people, and then I have to make sure I’m also capturing photos of whatever narrative emerges during the event.
How did you come to the Beacon?
I’ve been shooting sports since 2006. For a lot of that time I was also a writer and photographer at EDC, an education nonprofit that was based in Newton. I had been looking for more opportunities to combine storytelling and sports photography, and the Beacon has been a great fit for that.
Do you have a favorite story you’ve worked on for the Beacon?
Two of my favorites were about the Newton Table Tennis Center and the Unified Basketball jamboree at Day Middle School. Sports are such a powerful way to bring people together and to help all people find welcoming communities.
What fuel gets you through a long day photographing a story?
George Howell coffee.
Is there a story you haven’t had a chance to cover yet?
Pickup soccer throughout the city. Especially in the summertime, it seems like there are groups everywhere, and I’ve been seeing some of the same faces at these games for years.
Greta Gaffin, Reporter
What was the most challenging story you’ve done for the Beacon?
I write a lot of historical profiles, and it can be hard to distill dozens of sources into a 900-word story. One time I read a 304-page history book as background for my piece on the Healy family in Newton and Maine. A deeply-researched article I wrote, which contains (to my knowledge) never-before published archival material, was about the BC professor who was once excommunicated and started a cult.
Tell us about your professional background.
I worked on my high school paper, the Boston Latin School Argo. After college I wrote for the Bulletin, the local paper in Roslindale. I received a master’s of theological studies from BU and am currently working on a second master’s.
What Beacon story you’ve covered has had the most impact?
I do hope the stories I’ve written about Newton charities have inspired readers to contribute their time and money to helping those in need.
What fuel gets you through a long day reporting and writing a story?
Dunkin’ Donuts Mango Refresher.
Is there a story you haven’t had a chance to write about yet?
The Xaverian Working Boys Home. It started out as a home for independent teenagers who had a job but couldn’t afford rent, but by the 1940s it had become more of a foster home. It closed in the 1970s, and the building is now the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center.