Btn Livebig: Maryland Grad And Radio Legend Dave Mcconnell’S 50 Years On (W)Top

This Maryland English alumnus says his humanities background enabled him to enjoy a robust career in radio.

By BTN LiveBIG: Big Ten Network.

From policy debates to plane crashes, Dave McConnell has been voice of record in the Beltway for decades. Since 1965, McConnell has worked for Washington’s Top News (WTOP) radio station. Starting out as a general field reporter, he’s been the station’s congressional correspondent since 1981, and today he’s the only person on the radio doing that full-time.

It’s somewhat surprising, then, that McConnell made his first forays into this field while studying English literature at the University of Maryland.

“My major, believe it or not, was the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage,” he said. “My minor was history, which has always fascinated me. But then I began wondering if I should be more practical.”

McConnell was first exposed broadcast journalism when he started working at Maryland’s student-run radio station, WMUC. While pursuing his studies in literature, McConnell served as a staff announcer, DJ and news reporter, covering student government meetings and other campus events.

At one point, he even considered transitioning from English literature to solely focus on taking classes offered by the radio-TV department, but sound advice from a faculty member (and future boss) kept him on-course.

“He said, ‘You may find that parsing poetry or getting into literature will help you in a practical way to be a reporter on the air,’” McConnell explained. “‘Just strictly taking a nuts-and-bolts course might not be the best thing. You want to have a solid overall background if you want to be a reporter.’ So I stayed where I was.”

However, his work at the university radio station led to his job at WTOP a few years after graduating from Maryland in 1959. And he’s been there ever since.

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