Award winning investigative journalist Damien Fisher has taken on a new role as News Director at InDepthNH.org as the online nonprofit news outlet continues to grow in readership, revenue and relevance to the people of New Hampshire.
At a time when many daily papers are struggling financially, as a nonprofit news outlet, InDepthNH.org is continuing to expand to help meet the needs of New Hampshire – and to fulfill our mission to hold the powerful accountable and give voice to marginalized people, places and ideas and to report the news without fear or favor.
Fisher got his first job at a newspaper more than 20 years ago and has worked at a number of newspapers and online news outlets around New Hampshire ever since, having reported for InDepthNH.org for the past five years.
In his new position, Fisher will take on many of the editorial duties running the day-to-day operations as well as planning for the future in the turbulent and often changing world of local news. He will be assisting founder and executive director Nancy West, but he will continue reporting news as well.
He is best known for his investigative work on police accountability, the Department of Corrections scandals, state Supreme Court matters and more. He is also looking forward to reporting more on State House news with InDepthNH.org’s State House bureau chief Garry Rayno and senior writer Paula Tracy.
“I’ve always loved being part of the InDepthNH crew. It does an amazing job covering the state and going after stories the other news outlets don’t cover. I want InDepthNH.org to always remain the premier news outlet readers can rely on for the truth.
“InDepthNH.org is growing fast and we’re going to expand how we deliver our stories to our supportive readers, including more use of social media and video. We’re not changing, just getting bigger and even better,” Fisher said.
West first worked with Fisher earlier in their careers at the New Hampshire Union Leader, then again when West launched InDepthNH.org and shared her reporting with the Nashua Telegraph where Fisher was then working, and most recently at InDepthNH.org where Fisher has continued to hone his reporting and editing skills and won a couple of major awards in the last year alone.
“I’ve always respected Damien’s talent and dedication as a journalist. But what I admire most about him is his humanity, the fact that Damien really cares about people and believes all people should get a fair shake. I also love the fact that he came out in a blizzard to attend a right-to-know event InDepthNH.org held in Nashua when we first started out. That love for the people’s right to know has prompted him to recently file a public records lawsuit against the Department of Safety which we will all be hearing more about,” West said. “All of us at InDepthNH.org welcome Damien.”
Fisher has won numerous awards over the years and two very important ones recently.
In late September, Fisher was presented the prestigious Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award by the New England First Amendment Coalition at a ceremony at the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston.
“Damien Fisher is a fierce defender of government transparency and regularly uses the New Hampshire Right to Know Law to fight against secrecy,” NEFAC said in announcing the award.
“His recent reporting includes the award-winning investigative story, ‘What Really Happened to Michael Carney,’ and an in-depth report on the secrecy surrounding two deaths in the Monadnock region. Fisher’s use of the Right to Know Law last year also resulted in stories about a police chief accused of falsifying records, a corrections officer being reinstated after a questionable use of force and the hiding of evidence by the state’s Department of Corrections,” NEFAC said.
Watch Fisher’s acceptance speech here: https://youtu.be/pioFFFppUHM?si=L51Ytpe6EwKDecYY
Fisher also accepted an unrelated award, the A-Mark Prize for investigative reporting on Oct. 9 at the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s Leadership Summit at the Publick House Historic Inn in Sturbridge, Mass.
Fisher and his wife, Simcha Fisher, live in the Monadnock region with their children and their menagerie of pets that currently include a dog, a cat, a box turtle, an axyotl, and several ducks.
Damien Fisher can be reached at damien.fisher@indepthnh.org