Danny Connolly is a digital reporter in the Capitol Bureau for WCIA 3. He specializes in covering politics, state agencies, and the Springfield area.

He started with WCIA 3 in January 2022 as an intern with the University of Illinois Springfield’s Public Affairs Reporting graduate program, where he learned how to cover state government. After his internship, Danny moved into the digital department in July 2022.

Danny got his start in journalism through his undergraduate degree at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, specializing in Electronic Journalism and TV/Film Production. He worked a variety of jobs at the student news broadcast River Region Evening Edition all four years, advancing to Executive Producer his senior year. Danny received an honorable mention from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences student awards for a newscast he produced his sophomore year. He also worked for the student newspaper, The Daily Egyptian, for a year and a half and was a finalist for a regional Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence award for an article he co-wrote on SIU’s original COVID-19 policies. 

Outside of WCIA, Danny likes watching movies, reading comic books, playing video games, hanging out with friends, and visiting his family back in the Chicago area, where he grew up.