At a time when a trip to the grocery store is bound to come with some sticker shock, the idea of paying 10-25% more is unpopular, to say the least. But, for some things, there may be a work-around. “Buy more local food by shopping at your local farmer’s market,” said Nessa Richman, network director […]
David Wright
David Wright is a veteran TV, radio, and digital reporter who has contributed stories to Rhode Island PBS Weekly since 2022 and more recently joined The Public’s Radio team.
For more than 20 years, he was a correspondent at ABC News. Career highlights include covering the White House during President Trump’s first term, the Vatican during 3 different papacies, and reporting from numerous global conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and Gaza. Past interviews include Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Hamid Karzai, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Elon Musk.
He recently won a New England Emmy and a NETA award for a story he did for Rhode Island PBS Weekly. Other awards include several national Emmy and Murrow Awards, plus a Peabody, a DuPont, and an Overseas Press Club award.
David began his career in public radio as a reporter and host at WBUR and KQED. A native of Buffalo, he is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford. He and his wife Victoria met when they were both covering the 2005 papal conclave in Rome. They have 3 teenage daughters and a German Shepherd Dog.
Posted inEducation, Local
Trouble brewing on College Hill
On College Hill in Providence Tuesday, a libertarian sophomore called out Brown University for shutting down a cheeky student journalism project inspired by DOGE taking aim at administrative bloat. Just down the hill, pro-Palestinian students vented their rage at Rhode Island School of Design for moving an installation of anti-Zionist art from a cafe at […]
Posted inLocal, Sports
Demolition won’t destroy memories at McCoy
As a bulldozer with a mechanical lobster claw latched hold of the base of a lamp post at McCoy Stadium, Steve Healy stood by documenting it all with his iPhone and a heavy heart. With a loud crunch, the aluminum post snapped like a twig, and fifty foot high lights toppled into the outfield like […]
Posted inImmigration, Local
Rhode Island’s Refugee Dream Center celebrates 10 years helping new arrivals
A Rhode Island non-profit dedicated to helping immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers build a new home here in the U.S. is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week. But the founders of the Refugee Dream Center in Providence say that their work is harder than ever in the current political climate. “What we are confronting is […]
Posted inBusiness, Local, Metro Desk
Providence businesses see a bounce from March Madness
Whatever might be in your bracket, Providence hotel and restaurant owners were among the big winners in the first day of games in college basketball’s biggest tournament. Downtown streets were packed with fans of all stripes. Not all of them had to travel long distances. One couple in bright blue Jayhawks regalia from head to […]
Posted inLocal
Rhode Island Democrats say Brown Medicine doctor deserves her day in court
Rhode Island’s top elected officials are keeping a close eye on the Trump administration’s effort to deport a Lebanese transplant physician with ties to Brown University. Dr. Rasha Alawieh was detained at Boston Logan International Airport last week and sent back to Lebanon on the grounds that she may be sympathetic with the Lebanese militant […]
Posted inLocal, Politics
Washington’s love/hate relationship with the Ivy League
President Trump’s crusade against higher education is not without precedent. Campus politics have long been a source of contention, especially among conservatives. For nearly a century, in one way or another, parents and politicians have raised concerns about the ideological extremes of the ivory tower. For their part, universities have long struggled to find the […]
Posted inArts And Culture, Artscape
Series explores French cultural influence in Rhode Island
This is The Public’s Radio, I’m James Baumgartner. At a time when the longstanding friendship between the US and Canada is fraught with a trade war sparked by the Trump administration, a Rhode Island museum is mounting a celebration of the Ocean State’s ties with French Canadian culture. It’s called “La Francophonie”. In this week’s Artscape segment, reporter David Wright sat down with Anne Conway, Director of the Museum of Work & Culture in Woonsocket.
Posted inEducation, Local
Brown University struggles to cope with Trump higher ed edicts
President Trump’s plan to Make America Great Again runs right through the cloisters and quadrangles of elite universities. “Because the colleges are being overrun in this country,” Trump said last year during the height of campus protests against the war in Gaza. “The anti-Semitism — all of the problems going on. They’re being overrun. I’ve […]
Posted inHealth, Local, Politics
Rhode Island lawmakers call on Congress to defend Medicaid
Stephanie Manfredo, a Rhode Island mother of three, says Medicaid was a life saver for her family after several of her children were born at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence with significant health complications. She said she worries about cuts Republican lawmakers in Washington are now considering. “The cuts being proposed could absolutely cripple […]
