Brian Dust
Brian Dust covers community health stories through the lens of a small-market radio newsroom, folding medical developments into the broader flow of local news and sports for Effingham’s News and Sports Leader, 979 XFM and KJ Country 102.3. His reporting on medical care sits alongside coverage of high school athletics, local business initiatives and public affairs, so health pieces arrive grounded in the everyday concerns of residents rather than as a standalone specialty beat. He works on air as a promotions director and co-host, which shapes his written work toward clear, accessible updates that listeners and readers can absorb quickly.
Radio host who also writes the news
Dust serves as promotions director and co-host of the Drive Home show on the station’s FM brands, and he also hosts the KJ Café at midday. He moves between live programming and the newsroom, contributing written coverage under his byline on the station’s news site. That dual role keeps his reporting concise and conversational, mirroring the tone he uses on air.
Across his author archive, he files in several sections, including local news and sports. He writes up developments from civic groups and economic initiatives, such as updates on redevelopment plans at a local mall and efforts by regional growth alliances to spur jobs and tourism. The same feed includes game recaps and scoreboards for high school baseball, softball and other sports, reflecting the station’s identity as a news and sports outlet.
Health stories anchored in local lives
When Dust tackles health topics, he treats them as human-interest stories about people in the listening area rather than abstract medical reporting. In his coverage of a Watson woman who undergoes a groundbreaking medical procedure, he focuses on the individual patient, the treatment she receives and what the outcome means for her and her community. That approach fits with the rest of his work, which often highlights specific residents, local teams or businesses by name.
His health coverage fits into a pattern of practical, service-oriented stories with a clear personal angle. In other local news pieces, he details how projects or policy decisions will affect ordinary residents, from economic development plans at commercial centers to community events hosted by local organizations. The health reporting follows the same structure: a clear hook rooted in one person’s experience, basic context on why it matters and what comes next.
Local news with a sports and community backbone
Much of Dust’s byline history is in sports, where he writes brief, results-driven pieces on high school baseball and softball. Headlines in this stream emphasize scores, key performances and tournament outcomes, giving readers quick reference points rather than extended analysis. He also handles scoreboards for professional leagues, packaging multiple finals in a single roundup for convenience.
Outside of sports, he covers local institutions and policy in partnership with statewide news services carried by the station, including stories on energy demand, school choice debates and media industry recognition. In those pieces, he relays quotes from officials and advocates and explains how statewide developments intersect with local audiences. That mix of syndicated public‑affairs coverage, community business news and sports reporting provides the context into which his health pieces are published.
Dust’s body of work is defined less by a narrow subject beat and more by his role as a versatile local broadcaster who can move from a high school ballgame to a community redevelopment story to a human‑focused health feature. His health reporting carries the same straightforward, locally rooted tone as his coverage of sports and civic life, framed for an audience that knows the people and places he writes about.
4 more health journalists.
Aislinn Antrim
Aislinn Antrim is an associate editorial director at Pharmacy Times and a journalist who connects clinical advances, regulation, and the changing role of pharmacists. She writes pharmacy-centered health coverage on chronic disease therapeutics, specialty and oncology care, workforce pressures, and advocacy. Her reporting explains FDA actions, policy shifts, drug pipelines, and the real-world effects of new evidence on patient care and pharmacy practice. She often uses interviews and expert conversations to show how pharmacists improve adherence, manage side effects, navigate access and benefits, and coordinate care with prescribers. She also covers burnout, staffing strain, and the future of pharmacy practice, with an eye on how policy and economics shape work at the dispenser.
Alex Cabrero
Alex Cabrero is an Emmy award-winning KSL TV reporter who covers where health, safety and community life meet, always focused on how decisions and events affect everyday people. He has been with KSL since 2004, bringing long experience in breaking news, public service coverage and human-centered features. His beat includes public health, emergency response, technology, local infrastructure, environment and science, framed through community well-being and resilience. He reports on issues like mental health initiatives, law enforcement staffing, environmental hazards, rescues, wildfire detection tools, land-use fights and scientific discoveries, making technical and policy details clear for a general audience. He also produces many positive, everyday-life features on families, veterans, farmers, sports and local traditions. His style is direct and conversational, often built around a central person or family whose experience carries the story across TV, digital and social platforms.
Allison Palmer
Allison Palmer stands out for turning complex microbiome and brain-health research into clear, service stories tied to everyday habits. She covers health, wellness and lifestyle topics for The Sacramento Bee, focusing on emerging trends that help readers build positive, sustainable routines. Her reporting on the gut microbiome and healthy aging uses vivid case studies, including a rare supercentenarian, to connect diet, bacterial communities and longevity to daily eating choices. Another strand of her work examines oral bacteria and brain health, linking gum infections to changes in brain tissue and to simple oral-care practices. Since 2024, her wellness coverage has appeared across the McClatchy network, alongside pieces on technology, travel, lifestyle and commerce. She favors reported explainers with direct takeaways, keeps scientific detail intact, and strips away jargon to help readers build realistic long-term habits.
Alyssa Kelly
Alyssa Kelly reports on health and emotional local stories that show how everyday experiences shape people’s sense of safety and wellbeing. They work in the digital newsroom at TV6 & FOX UP, contributing text and video pieces on community life and public interest topics. Their beat centers on health and safety in ordinary settings, especially outdoors, and on animal and family stories tied to wellbeing and memory. They cover issues like tick exposure during routine park visits and long-term pet disappearances and reunions, using specific details, clear timelines, and direct quotes to make the stakes feel immediate and personal. Kelly’s headlines often foreground quoted phrases from families and pet owners, giving their reporting a conversational, human-centered tone. They also collaborate with other reporters on health and safety stories that connect individual cases to wider public concerns.