ABOUT

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

  • Veteran reporter with 10+ years of experience reporting on government and politics at state and local level in New York, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada.
  • As part of award-winning two-person Nevada statehouse team, produced coverage that delivered paper’s highest conversion rate for new subscribers three straight years.
  • Combine deep knowledge of government and focus on big picture with strong storytelling and writing skills, emphasis on precision and accuracy, and ability to contextualize issues for readers.
  • Skilled at juggling assignments, working in teams or solo, with guidance or self-directed. Excellent people skills.

MY CV

TOP SKILLS

Government & politics coverage • Enterprise, investigative journalism • Data journalism • Photography & videography • Social media • Graphics • Web publishing

Statehouse reporting

Government, politics, elections, campaign finance

Daily/enterprise reporting, analysis, data reporting

Investigations

Data processing/analysis (Python, web scraping)

Photo/video/graphics production and editing

Web content/publishing/development, Wordpress

LATEST ASSIGNMENTS

2018-2022

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

CAPITOL BUREAU REPORTER

State government/politics reporter covering legislature, governor, state and federal judiciary, and major/breaking regional news from California and northern Nevada.

Covered three regular and two special legislative sessions, government COVID response, state and federal elections (three cycles); area spot news. economy, local government, and industry (e.g., Tesla, gold/lithium mining).

Produced 100+ stories during each of three 120-day legislative sessions, including daily coverage, weekenders, analyses, and enterprise stories.Clips

2017-2018

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

GOVERNMENT REPORTER

Salt Lake City-based reporter covering city (primary), county, and state government and politics. Wrote definitive analysis of controversial legislative priority seizing control of major Salt Lake City-sponsored local economic initiative. Clips

2014-2017

IDAHO STATESMAN

STATEHOUSE REPORTER

State government/politics correspondent covering legislature, governor, executive agencies; federal officeholders. Covered three legislative sessions, state/federal elections; wrote daily/weekenders and enterprise stories. Frequent panelist on weekly PBS-affiliate televised news program and campaign debates. First reporter in the role to use data-driven analyses in routine coverage on topics including state spending, healthcare expenditures. and excessive costs for debt issuance. Clips

FEATURED

MORE WRITING

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Return to paper ballots nixed

Lawmakers in Nevada’s second-largest county reject a multi-pronged, legally questionable rewrite of county election procedures […]

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Frontrunner dodging rivals?

At a debate in Reno, Republican governor candidate and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo appeared, […]

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Candidate denies racist text

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an unapologetically left-leaning blogger posted a screenshot of a […]

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Virginia result for Nevada? Not so fast

Could Nevada voters in 2022 follow Virginia’s lead Tuesday, electing Republicans in statewide races next […]

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Redistricting: What you should know

What redistricting means for Nevada, how it’s done, and why you might care. Website link […]

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Gov preps for re-election bid

The first-term governor looks ahead to a race that will surf pent-up voter reaction to […]

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Nevada’s next boom? Enter lithium

With global demand for cleaner energy to power cars, smart homes and phones predicted to […]

Video: Lithium mining in Nevada

I teamed up with one of our drone-piloting photogs to produce this video for a […]

Video: BBC interview, 2020 election

The BBC interviewed me and an Arizona reporter on the post-2020 election fracases in our […]

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Gold mining in Nevada – a new windfall

In a state where gold mining dates to the 1830s, two major new deposits could […]

Former sheriff accused in abduction

A former county sheriff got caught up in a Reno man’s attempt to abscond with […]

Calif. shooter bought gun in Nevada

The assailant in a Gilroy, Calif., shooting crossed state lines to buy a semiautomatic rifle […]

First female majority in U.S.

Nevada’s 2019 Legislature was the first in the nation to have a female majority, and […]

Sheriff keeps job despite complaints

An embattled sheriff in rural Nevada keeps winning re-election amid charges of workplace sexual harassment […]

Video: Tesla factory tour

I shot and produced this video to go with a story on the Tesla Gigafactory […]

Tesla factory a game changer for region

Tesla opened its Gigafactory facility in rural Storey County, Nevada in 2016. Its impact on […]

2018 elections show Nevada in blue column

Democrats cleaned up in Nevada’s midterm elections as the state continued its move into solid […]

Utah GOP power grab from SLC Dems

The Legislature rolled right over the city’s plans for thousand of acres in its undeveloped […]

Mayor Biskupski at midterm

At midterm, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski is in a position big city mayors […]

Salt Lake Crime drops

Salt Lake City crime declined for two straight years after a peak in 2015. An […]

Treasurer misspent on borrowings

A look at the costs of issuing debt in Idaho showed the longtime state treasurer’s […]

Religion freedom or medical neglect?

Idaho has faith-healing exemptions in state child protection laws that exonerate caregivers who decline medical […]

In Idaho, the politics of voting ‘No’

One bloc of Idaho lawmakers votes consistently against spending money on even the most basic […]

Video: Idaho Reports (2016)

I was an occasional panelist on the weekly Boise PBS news progra “Idaho Reports” for […]

Video: MSBNC interview

I was interviewed by Rachel Maddow in 2016 when the Idaho Democratic party caucus went […]

Video: Idaho Reports (2016)

Discussing the legislature’s abbreviated debate of Medicaid expansion under Obamacare on Idaho Reports (Boise PBS) […]

Idaho takes more from feds than it cares to admit

Idaho lawmakers like to rail against the federal government, but the state gets a third […]

Open range laws are ag-friendly

Open range laws mean if you hit a cow on the road, you’re liable not […]

Idaho taxes relatively light, fair

Idaho lawmakers routinely agitate to cut taxes. But the state’s tax structure is lower — […]

Idaho’s top political donors

Agriculture, energy, and natural resources corporate interests contribute the most to Idaho campaigns, an analysis […]

Business lobby press draws a foul

The 800-pound gorilla of Idaho’s special interest lobby gets singed by its own scorched-earth approach […]

Sun-Stopping

21 December From the Latin sol, for sun, and sistere, to stand still, comes solstice […]

Mustering In

  Tiny Cressona nestles in the Appalachian coal country of southeastern Pennsylvania, about 130 miles […]

The Blast

Cleatus is my new best friend here – ok, at the moment he’s my only […]

MY INFO

WASHINGTON, DC

bdentzer@gmail.com

+1 917.796.6752