Dear Dispatch reader,
I’m writing to you with a bittersweet update. Adam O’Neal, our executive editor since last August, recently accepted a job as The Economist’s new Washington correspondent, and Friday was his last day at The Dispatch. Coming to us from the Wall Street Journal, Adam has been instrumental over the past year in helping us professionalize our operation and expand the scope of our coverage. We wouldn’t be where we are today without him, and we’re grateful for all his hard work.
That said, I couldn’t be more excited to let you know we have tapped Declan Garvey as Adam’s successor. Declan has been with The Dispatch since its earliest days, and he’s played an enormous role in establishing our culture and the standards to which we hold ourself. Those of you who read The Morning Dispatch on a daily basis probably know him for his thorough approach to the news of the day, his ability to inject levity into the most dreary of topics, and his incredibly incorrect football opinions.
Originally from just outside Chicago—the source of those incorrect football opinions—Declan joined us in 2019 from Hamilton Place Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm, where he spent two years steeped in some of the most important public policy debates in Washington, D.C. He dove into his work at The Dispatch head first, sourcing up on campaigns and on Capitol Hill, often putting his history degree to good use. While he hasn’t publicized it, he’s also spent much of the past year working closely with Jonathan Karl of ABC News on his forthcoming book—all while overseeing the team that produces TMD on a daily basis. There’s a decent chance his work-life balance is going to improve with this added responsibility.
And it is a lot of responsibility. I know people say this every four years, but we are entering an unprecedented election cycle that, if current polling holds, is set to result in a presidential matchup with which most of the country is unhappy. How did we get here? Is there a way out of this bleak political moment? Is Justin Fields about to lead the Chicago Bears to their first playoff victory since 2010?
In my mind, there is no one better than Declan to lead our newsroom as we attempt to answer the first two questions—and no one worse to answer the third. I hope you’re as excited as I am to welcome Declan to this role and to watch him guide The Dispatch to great things over the next several years.
Best,
Steve
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