Washington

Orion Donovan-Smith

Orion Donovan-Smith covers Congress and Washington, D.C., for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. He worked as the Investigative Reporting Workshop fellow on the documentary “Plastic Wars,” a Frontline investigation into recycling and the plastics industry. Prior to that, he was an intern and later a part-time producer at the NPR program “1A” in 2019, while finishing a master’s degree in journalism from American University. Earlier in the program, he worked with the investigative team and as a general assignment reporter at The Washington Post, covering immigration. Before turning to journalism, he worked on international development programs in Central Africa. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington.

The Spokesman-Review

The Spokesman-Review is a family-owned, daily newspaper in Spokane, the second-largest city in Washington state and the largest northern city between Minneapolis and Seattle. For the past 135 years, the newspaper has served readers across eastern Washington, the northern Idaho Panhandle and north to the Canadian border. Its focus is local and regional stories, including community news, government issues, health, business, entertainment, sports and the outdoors. In addition to a partnership with KHQ, a sister television station in Spokane, The Spokesman-Review also has a unique cooperative agreement with newspapers across the area, including the Seattle Times and The Idaho Statesman, to share stories. This arrangement helps provide robust daily reports and greatly benefits all readers across the Pacific Northwest.

The Olympian

The Olympian is a 150-year-old news organization primarily covering Thurston County, population 270,000, and state government, since we are the state capital. We have transformed into a digital-first local news operation, feeding our website 12 hours a day—but we also continue to put out a daily print newspaper. We have three sister publications in the state: The News Tribune in the neighboring county, The Bellingham Herald, about 4 hours away, and The Tri-City Herald, about 6 hours away.

The News Tribune

We are a digital-first news outlet that covers Pierce County, a fast-growing county of nearly 1 million people in the Puget Sound region of Washington state. We have been the leading source of news, information and thoughtful commentary for the greater Tacoma region for more than 125 years.

The Daily Herald

The Herald is one of 43 newspaper titles owned by Everett-based Sound Publishing, the largest community media organization in Washington state. We are the primary source of news and information for the communities we serve as well as the leading editorial voice. We are part of the greater Seattle metropolitan area. The fundamental philosophy that our founders committed themselves to from the first day they began publishing on Jan. 5, 1901 is still at the center of what we attempt to do every day: “There is in this community no one so poor or insignificant that The Herald will not defend him if he be wronged, no one so high and powerful that the Herald will not fearlessly attack him if he seek to do injustice.”

Arielle Dreher

Prior to covering public health in eastern Washington state, Arielle worked as a staff reporter and writer for the Jackson Free Press, the alternative weekly in Mississippi. She covered state government, earning numerous awards including several first place Green Eyeshade awards. She has also received awards from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Awards and the Associated Press for feature writing, politics reporting, business reporting, courts reporting and public service. More recently, splitting her time between Pasco, Washington and Andalucía, Spain, Arielle has written about rural America and happiness for 74 Million, covered local business for the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business and wrote about mental health and reproductive health for the Free Press. She received her B.A. from Azusa Pacific University and her M.A. from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Public health in eastern Washington state Arielle reports on health and social issues in Spokane and the surrounding region as part of the paper’s Metro Desk team. That includes covering breaking news and diving into issue stories about key health topics, such as opioid abuse and access to care; social issues, such as the need for more foster families; and medical research and innovation from the area’s universities. She works with the Review’s government affairs editor, who is skilled at guiding novice reporters and helping them look beyond the process to find important issues and compelling human stories that will engage readers. As part of a small newsroom team, Arielle has the chance to tackle a wide variety of assignments and gets hands-on training with our digital team.

The Spokesman-Review

The Spokesman-Review is a family-owned, daily newspaper in Spokane, the second-largest city in Washington state and the largest northern city between Minneapolis and Seattle. For the past 135 years, the newspaper has served readers across eastern Washington, the northern Idaho Panhandle and north to the Canadian border. Its focus is local and regional stories, including community news, government issues, health, business, entertainment, sports and the outdoors. In addition to a partnership with KHQ, a sister television station in Spokane, The Spokesman-Review also has a unique cooperative agreement with newspapers across the area, including the Seattle Times and The Idaho Statesman, to share stories. This arrangement helps provide robust daily reports and greatly benefits all readers across the Pacific Northwest.  

Laurel Demkovich

Laurel Demkovich reports for The Spokesman-Review based in Spokane, Washington, and covers the Washington Legislature and state government. After graduating from Indiana University in May 2019, Demkovich completed an internship at The Washington Post where she covered cops and courts for the Post’s local desk. Demkovich also completed internships at the Tampa Bay Times and the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Massachusetts, covering local government, breaking news, and general assignments. While at Indiana University, Demkovich served as managing editor of the school’s student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student. She has won several awards for her writing from the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Indiana Collegiate Press Association named her Brook Baker Collegiate Journalist of the Year in 2019. She also won first place in feature writing from The Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

Ian Davis-Leonard

Ian Davis-Leonard reports for The Daily Herald in Everett, Washington, and focuses on issues facing the working-class citizens of Snohomish County, including mental health, transportation, education and addiction. Davis-Leonard hails from Everett and spent three years working for the student newspaper at Gonzaga University, a Catholic college in Spokane, Washington. He also has had student summer internships covering local news for Beacon Publishing in Mukilteo, Washington, and The Herald. Davis-Leonard earned praise for his collegiate journalism including winning three Society of Professional Journalism Mark of Excellence awards for news reporting and sports reporting.

Brandon Block

Brandon Block reports for The Olympian in Olympia, Washington, focusing on homelessness in and around the state capital and the factors that contribute to homelessness, such as mental illness and drug addiction. Block is a reporter and filmmaker who, for two years, has covered criminal justice, immigration and the environment in Baltimore. His writing has appeared in WYPR 88.1, the DCist, and the Baltimore Beat, and he fact-checked the book “I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad.” He spent the last year in Bangkok, Thailand, where he worked for an education nonprofit on a Princeton in Asia fellowship. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Film & Media Studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Block got his start in journalism by writing film and theater criticism for Baltimore City Paper.