Prior to joining Report for America, O’Connor produced data-driven investigations as an intern for The Buffalo News and in-depth feature stories as a reporter for the Rochester Beacon in New York. He has covered everything from the Starbucks unionization movement to pro-Palestine protests and local housing issues. His journalism career started when he joined the Campus Times at the University of Rochester as a first-year student and dove into coverage of the city’s Black Lives Matter protests before going on to become a staple in the paper’s news and features sections. He served as news editor, managing editor, and editor-in-chief for the paper, winning two New York Press Association awards along the way — one for producing the best college newspaper feature story in the state in 2022 and another for leading the state’s second-best overall college newspaper in 2024. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and English: Language, Media, and Communications from the University of Rochester.
Beat: Bossier City and Bossier Parish government
Bossier is a city with a population of 62,700 located in northwestern Louisiana. Barksdale Air Force Base is located in Bossier. A successful candidate will bring experience to aggressive daily and enterprise coverage on Bossier. They’ll aim to produce a broad swath of stories on local government. This is a great beat for someone who can juggle dailies and longer-tail stories that honestly and clearly reflect the promise — and problems — of the community.