Peter Segall

About

I am a journalist, writer, and researcher with skills in reporting, writing, filming, video editing, and photography. I currently work for the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles, Washington where I cover mostly local government issues in Clallam and Jefferson Counties, the two counties that make up the North Olympic Peninsula. Housing is a top priority for the area, as is the ongoing opioid crisis. Clallam County has one of the highest overdose rates in the state of Washington and following the 2020 protests against police violence, the state legislature passed a raft of police reform measures which have not been well received locally. Some of those reforms have since been rolled back but law enforcement regularly states they feel their “hands are tied” in regards to drug enforcement. Before coming to Washington I was the government reporter for the Juneau Empire in Alaska’s capital from July, 2019 to July 2022. I arrived in Alaska in the midst of that state’s financial crisis and a newly-elected governor’s controversial plan to balance the state’s budget.Before coming to Alaska I completed co-authoring a book with Harry Wiland of Media Policy Center called Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic about America’s opioid epidemic. The book was published by Turner Publishing and released in February, 2020. Writing the book involved extensive research and review of court documents and medical articles. Interviews with doctors and addiction specialists were conducted by phone and in person.I managed the website portion for another of Media Policy Center’s documentaries called “Do Our Kids: Narrowing the Opportunity Gap.” The series is based on Harvard professor Robert Putnam’s book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis as is narrated by Putnam. I have a B.A. in Histsory and Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz and later completed a certificate program in Journalism Studies from UCLA Extension.For three years I lived in Hanoi, Vietnam teaching English to children and adults and where English grammar was my profession. As well as grammar, this experience taught me great inter-personal and communication skills. Living and traveling in a developing country also provides many opportunities for problem solving, improvisation, and patience.