"She cares about people, and it shows up in her work."
Award-winning journalist Hannah McDonald is a reporter at NewsChannel 5 and a community advocate.
Hannah is the 2024 recipient of the prestigious American Gavel Award for Distinguished Reporting. The award, given by the American Judges Association, recognizes excellent reporting on justice-related issues.
Hannah's stories spark change. In 2023, a series of stories she produced changed state law so that seniors receive 60 days' notice rather than 30 days when forced to move. In 2024, the governor signed a law requiring CO monitors at every daycare in the state after Hannah uncovered a loophole.
In 2025, Hannah won a Nashville/Midsouth Regional Emmy Award for her sensitive reporting on a Nashville homeowner caught between community roots and rising development. Since joining the station in 2018, she has received multiple additional Emmy nominations for her writing and has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association for her collaborations with photojournalists at NewsChannel 5. Hannah has also been honored by the community for her coverage of the aftermath of the mass shooting at The Covenant School, which earned her two Emmy nominations in 2023. In 2020, she received second place in the Associated Press contest for Best Television Reporter in Tennessee.
Before moving to Nashville, she worked in Central Pennsylvania at WGAL. Hannah produced the station’s first mini-series, which spotlighted student life at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey. It was awarded best education series by the Pennsylvania Associated Press and was nominated for an Emmy. In June of 2018, Hannah also won an AP award for feature reporting.
Hannah grew up in Rhode Island and graduated from The Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Her career first took her to Burlington, Vermont, where she worked at WPTZ as a reporter and anchor. During that time, she covered the Shawshank Redemption-style prison escape in Dannemora, New York, that resulted in a three-week manhunt. The assignment made national headlines.
Hannah says another highlight in her career was when she traveled to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics and worked for NBC.
Outside of work, Hannah enjoys photography, the ocean, road trips, her cat named Puppet, the New England Patriots, spending time with her children and husband, and visiting family.
