Meg O'Connor Email & Phone Number

Philadelphia, Pa, Us

Los Angeles, California, United States

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Investigative reporting on law enforcement in Arizona and elsewhere for The Appeal

Investigative reporting on the criminal justice system

Phoenix, Arizona Area

Reporting on police, prisons, and prosecutors in Arizona for the Phoenix New Times online and in print

Phoenix, Arizona Area

Pitched, reported, and wrote three stories a week while also reporting a 5,000-word feature story each month to be published on the cover of the newspaper’s print edition. While working for the Miami New Times, I wrote a series of articles investigating the cruise industry. In one story, I found Royal Caribbean settled a lawsuit brought by a Texas woman whose shin was severed on one of the company's zip-lining excursions just months before a newlywed couple died on the same zip-line. In another case, a massage therapist who had been fired for sexually assaulting a minor on a Carnival cruise ship found work aboard a Celebrity cruise months later, where he sexually assaulted another teenage girl.I also wrote a series of articles showing Miami police had failed to follow to a new law allowing officers to hand out tickets in lieu of arrest for minor marijuana possession. Using booking data from the county's Department of Corrections, I found arrests for possession of less than 20 grams of pot had increased each year since the county passed the law. Through a records request, I found that though the the City of Miami signed an agreement with Miami-Dade County promising to begin a civil citation program back in February, 2017, eighteen months later, the policy was never implemented.After these stories came out, Miami's police chief finally did begin a civil citation program and took it a step further by requiring officers to issue a citation for first and second offenses, eliminating officer discretion in a move to mitigate racial disparity in the policy's application. The series was nominated for the Florida Press Association's Claudia Ross Memorial Award for investigative reporting.

Conducted extensive research, fact checking, data collection, and reporting to contribute to CNN’s in-depth investigative pieces. Vetted potential leads, interviewed sources, created databases of political contributions using Excel, and submitted work to be published by CNN on a tight deadline.

Gained an intimate understanding of what Americans search for online, and of how Google organizes what we see on search, as the role required me to monitor the most-searched people, news, and events in the US, then write headlines related to those searches to appear live in Google Search results. I also monitored worldwide crises as they developed with a team of engineers to share information with those using Google in the crisis area telling them how to access resources like food, shelter, and aid.

Greater New York City Area

*Wrote 2–4 stories a week of varying length and complexity on New York City and State politics and policy. *Uncovered serious disparities in the amount of funding New York City Council members receive to allocate for their staff’s salaries, causing their budgets to be equalized the following year.*Contributed to research for articles and wrote weekly roundups of city and state political developments.

Master Of Science - Ms, Investigative Journalism

Bachelor'S Degree