Whitney Bryen

Whitney Bryen is a reporter at InvestigateWest where she relies on data and public records to cover addiction, criminal justice, mental health and government accountability in the Northwest. Her reporting has led to increased regulatory oversight and public transparency, changes to state law and civil litigation.  The Idaho State Nursing Board is investigating a complaint prompted by her recent story about a man who was arrested at the hospital after a nurse who was treating him for an overdose reported him to police. The Washington Health Department launched an investigation into a Spokane hospital’s care of suicidal patients after Whitney and reporting partner Kaylee Tornay unearthed neglect at the facility that led to a 12-year-old’s death.

An Oklahoma native and graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Whitney cut her journalism teeth at the Boulder Daily Camera and Longmont-Times Call in Colorado before returning to Oklahoma. She spent six years reporting on domestic violence, mental health and criminal justice for Oklahoma Watch where she won the Ben Blackstock Award for Commitment to Freedom of Information, the National Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism and the First Amendment Awards’ Defending the Disadvantaged prize. Her award-winning “Crisis in Custody” series resulted in Oklahoma’s first accounting of jail detainees who died from untreated mental health or substance use conditions and revealed a rural jail’s attempts to conceal those deaths.

Whitney can coach on:

• investigative and accountability journalism
• criminal justice and mental health
• youth mental health

Whitney can be reached at whitney@investigatewest.org.