Daniel Walters Email & Phone Number

Pacific Northwest

In-depth reporting into the far right, the radical left and the beleaguered democratic institutions in the vast in-between.

Spokane, Washington, United States

Spokane, Washington

I write for Spokane's alt-weekly, the Pacific Northwest Inlander and its sister publication, InHealth magazine. Currently, I cover city government at the city of Spokane, where I've broken news about a former city councilmember being fired amid harassment allegations, city attorneys refusing to participate in an independent investigation and internal strife surrounding a police precinct move. I've also gone in-depth on numerous other topics. An investigation into why Washington state has the highest property crime rate in the nation resulted in the Spokane County receiving $300,000 from the state legislature to address the problem. I've investigated a shady real estate developer and the dishonest CEO of a local Blu-ray manufacturing firm. Both were later convicted of fraud.My reporting on education won me first place for "Beat Reporting" at the 2016 Association of Alternative Newsmedia awards in 2016.An investigation into the fraying safety net for the homeless amid the recession received an AAN award for economic inequality reporting, while a feature on bullying in the Internet era received a third-place AAN award for long-form news writing. I was part of a team that, in 2014, dove into the broken mental health care system in the "State of Mind" series. The series was a finalist for the Scripps Howard Foundation Award for Community Journalism and won both the AAN first place award for Public Service journalism and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists.I've also published tackled abusive auto-filed debt-collection lawsuits, the seriously flawed foster care system, shocking child abuse rates, shoddy real estate dealings in an iconic hotel,mental health gaps in rural North Idaho, a controversial county commissioner, rival plans for medical education in Washington, and the feud between a Republican sheriff and a far-right state representative.

I'm a hired gun who takes on all sorts of journalistic tasks. At the Inlander, I've written articles for the Food, Arts, News, Calendar, and Opinion sections. I also write for InHealth, a bimonthly publication from the Inlander. I've taken on a slew of topics, including transportation, community development, economics, homelessness, the environment, city and state politics, the police force, hospitals, refugees, art, music, and comedy. Usually I write 2 or 3 articles a week, ranging from short 200 words blurbs, to the occasional sprawling 2000 word in-depth expose.

- Helped student writers refine ideas, rework organization, and edit for grammar and spelling.- Specifically recommended by journalism professor to assist beginning journalism students with mass media formats.

-- Over three years took roles as reporter, columnist, and editor for The Whitworthian, Whitworth University’s award-winning newspaper.-- Oversee 11 different columnists and assist them with brainstorming ideas, strengthening th­­­eir arguments and fine-tuning their style.-- Supported other editors with copy-editing, research, sourcing and headline writing.