Dan Monk, perhaps the top investigative reporter on Cincinnati TV today, will retire Friday from WCPO-TV, where he has won four Emmy Awards since 2013.
The West Side resident, and 1983 University of Cincinnati graduate, has been a reporter in his hometown for his entire 43-year career. He started at WSAI-AM and WNNK-FM (1983-1993), before writing for the Cincinnati Business Courier (1994-2013) and joining Channel 9.
“I'm proud of the body of work I've produced over the years. I think I've written more than 4,000 stories in my career, many of them about issues crucial to the region's long-term survival,” Monk says on his WCPO-TV bio.
Monk, who turns 65 this summer, says his last day will be Friday, March 27. He has one more story in the can, about a Cincinnati business, which likely will air Friday, he says.
His retirement was announced to the newsroom in late January. He’s looking forward to spending time with his three grandsons, all 3 and younger.
Monk left the Business Courier in 2013 for Channel 9’s “The Insider” digital news subscription product intended to compete with the Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati.com. After that wound down, he did on-air stories. His four regional Emmy Awards were from collaborations with Mark Greenblatt, Craig Cheatham and Paula Christian.
Monk’s departure is a huge loss to Cincinnati broadcasting. He’s one of the premiere business and investigative reporters in town. His biggest story was the months-long probe in 2016 with Greenblatt into problems at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center which resulted in major changes in leadership there, and the indictment of an administrator.
With Cheatham he did stories about Cincinnati police misconduct. And he worked with Cheathan and Christian on stories about power plant pollution.
Among his many stories were reports about Cincinnati housing evictions; unionization efforts by Amazon workers at Greater Cincinnati International Airport; the city’s land swap for construction of the Andrew J. Brady Music Center at the Banks; area gambling casino pay-outs; increasing delinquencies for Cincinnati retail and hotel properties; the death of the former Forest Fair mall; and numerous stories about Macy’s, Kroger, P&G, Fifth Third Bank and other local businesses.
“We are going to miss Dan. His work speaks for itself,” says Jeff Brogan, Channel 9 vice president and general manager.
Monk started writing news stories at WSAI-AM/FM in Price Hill while earning a literature degree at UC. He worked there with Steve Douglas, former Channel 5 anchor, and newsman Fred Slezak. He left radio for print in 1993 as broadcasting ownership consolidation eliminated jobs. He freelanced for the Business Courier before being hired in July 1994.
He leaves television at a time when trust in journalists is at an all-time low.
“I always thought that local journalism was a noble calling. It hurts my heart to see people who think they (reporters) are lying to them. Every reporter that I know wants to tell the truth,” Monk says.
But he’s had a great ride.
“I've had the privilege of learning about my hometown through 40 years of local journalism, starting in radio then moving to print with the Cincinnati Business Courier and into television with E.W. Scripps Co.,” he says on his LinkedIn profile.
“This gave me a chance to interview more than 20 CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies and weigh in on some of the most important issues facing our region, including riverfront development, economic inclusion, transportation needs and government corruption. Cincinnati may not be a perfect town but it's never boring and will always rise to a challenge.”
