Cape Gazette adds two reporters to enhance community coverage

The Cape Gazette recently hired two new reporters – Kevin Conlon and Ellen McIntyre – to join its award-winning staff, providing expanded coverage for Cape Region news, sports, and community issues and events.

Kevin Conlon comes to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience to his credit since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He will be reporting on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.

His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.

Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and his decision to pursue it paid off. “This new position gives me an opportunity to stay in a career that I love, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper,” he said. 

Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now that he is settling into the Cape Region, he will be searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.

Ellen McIntyre recently graduated from Penn State with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. At the Cape Gazette, she will be working the education beat and writing about all the newsworthy happenings in Dewey Beach, from government to business and community. 

In summer 2023, McIntyre worked as a freelance writer for the Associated Press covering the Women's World Cup in New Zealand, before heading to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to gain more experience as in intern this past summer. 

“In my last semester at Penn State, I took a class about mass incarceration and the media, which was taught by the same professor, Shaheen Pasha, who made me fall in love with journalism my first or second year. She founded the Prison Journalism Project, which teaches incarcerated people how to tell their stories through journalism,” she said.

After corresponding with incarcerated men at the New Jersey State Prison about various aspects of their life there, McIntyre wrote a story about the need to improve healthcare in the prison system. “Hearing firsthand from incarcerated people about the abysmal medical treatment they were receiving – or, in many cases, the lack thereof – really resonated with me.” She said the experience gave her a potent look at the importance of journalism to give a voice to those who don't have the means or the platform to speak for themselves. 

“I'm thrilled to join such a talented and welcoming team at the Cape Gazette as a reporter covering education and all things Dewey Beach,” said McIntyre. “As a northern Delaware native, I've done my fair share of summer day trips to Rehoboth Beach, so I'm excited to make the Cape Region my year-round home and to really get to know the vibrant community here on a deeper level. I've always been passionate about writing and photography, so having a job that combines the two has been a dream, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity.”

In her free time, McIntyre loves hiking and being in nature, going to concerts and music festivals, walking her dog and spending time with loved ones. 

Cape Gazette owner and publisher Chris Rausch welcomed the new arrivals, saying, “We're excited to have both Kevin and Ellen join us, and we look forward to all they will accomplish at the Cape Gazette!”