Meet Delaware Online reporter Amanda Fries
Hey there!
My name is Amanda Fries and I’m the Wilmington watchdog reporter at Delaware Online/The News Journal.
After a decade of local and state government news coverage in New York, I made my way down to the Wilmington area with the plan to continue my hardnosed, bulldog approach to covering the most important topics and issues impacting residents.
I thought I’d seen and heard everything reporting in New York, but then I came to Delaware.
Within two weeks of starting at The News Journal, the state’s largest provider for mental health and substance use services faced federal accusations of fraud and improper narcotics distribution. Shortly after those lawsuits were filed, the nonprofit provider, Connections Community Support Programs, declared bankruptcy.
That was just the beginning.
With the help of brave former and current Connections employees, clients and board members, I discovered just how much Delawareans need the Fourth Estate to uncover the state’s lax oversight of the nonprofit. Surely, Delawareans deserve better.
Then there were the Le Parc Condominium residents who have dealt with structural issues for years, but their concerns did not spark action by local or state government. Shortly after my exclusive report was published, New Castle County hired its own engineer to review the structural integrity of the buildings.
Those resident, too, deserve better.
And so, every day I seek the truth for you: the reader, the resident, the individual. I will hold the government accountable. I will expose systemic failures. I will tell your stories with a passion for the answers you seek, and that residents deserve. After all, you elected them into office and you’re the ones funding their paychecks.
When I’m not banging my head against a wall over systemic issues Delawareans deserve resolutions to, you can find me out on walks with my dogs or at a local dog park. It’s therapeutic.
Do you have a Wilmington issue that deserves attention? Contact me at afries@delawareonline.com, or hit me up on Twitter at @mandy_fries.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Meet Delaware Online reporter Amanda Fries
