WHRO - Ryan Murphy

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Ryan Murphy

Reporter

ryan.murphy@whro.org

Ryan Murphy is a news reporter for WHRO Public Media.

Over the course of an eight-year newspaper career, Ryan covered Hampton Roads for both The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press, where his primary focus was local government accountability and watchdog reporting.

A Chesapeake native and graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Ryan has also examined the region's housing issues, from redevelopment to public housing to evictions, and how the City of Norfolk’s racial history contributes to its current geography.

Recent Stories

Photos courtesy Rouse and Adams campaign. Democrat Aaron Rouse (left) is running against Republican Kevin Adams in Virginia’s 7th State Senate district.

(Courtesy of City of Portsmouth) Tonya Chapman (left) was fired Tuesday as city manager. Former top city official Mimi Terry was hired as her interim replacement.

Photo by Ryan Murphy. An overnight team leader killed six other Walmart employees and injured several more at a store in Chesapeake in November.

Courtesy of the Virginia Department of Transportation. The Portsmouth side of the Downtown Tunnel.

Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jesse Schwab via U.S. Navy. Virginia’s reliance on federal spending means gridlock in Congress could hurt the state’s economy.

Photo by Ryan Murphy. Donovon Lynch’s father Wayne Lynch (left) at a press conference in 2021 calling for a federal investigation of his son’s killing.

Photo courtesy of Louise Witherspoon. The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors memorial in Mathews County, Va.

Photo by Ryan Murphy. Christopher Newport University professor Johnny Finn stands amid the exhibition of his work on the lingering effects of residential segregation at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach.

Photo by Ryan Murphy. A bronze statue of educational leader Richard A. Tucker was erected in front of Norfolk’s Richard A. Tucker Memorial Library in Campostella.

(Courtesy of City of Portsmouth) The firing of Portsmouth’s city manager this spring set off a firestorm. Two incumbents lost their seats as part of the fallout.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy/Northrop Grumman. Triton unmanned aircraft system is currently used as part of the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force.

Tough-on-crime rhetoric in Norfolk has ramped up since a March shooting outside a downtown bar left three dead, including 25-year-old Virginian-Pilot reporter Sierra Jenkins. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

The Norfolk Police Department has shifted administrative staff to patrol duty to deal with serious understaffing. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

Students move into Hampton University’s Harkness Hall on Aug. 26th, 2022. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

A train on its way to Norfolk Southern’s Lamberts Point coal terminal. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

The banned books display at Prince Books, as seen on Aug. 25, 2022. The bookstore had joined filings pushing back against the restriction of book sales to minors. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

This display has been up at Prince Books since this spring, when rumblings first started in Virginia Beach about banning books from schools. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

Norfolk’s Police Department has struggle to attract and retain police officers in recent years. (Courtesy of Norfolk Police)

Bloomberg Harvard fellow Nicah Santos presents her findings on youth violence to Portsmouth’s City Council. (Courtesy of the City of Portsmouth)

Missy Elliot from the music video for her debut single, 1997’s "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)". (Screenshot courtesy of Atlantic Records)

The Atlantic Scout is much lower to the water than previous tour vessels, getting visitors a closer look at Virginia Beach’s dolphins. (Courtesy of the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center)

Renderings of the proposed hotel and casino next to Harbor Park in Norfolk released April 2021. (Courtesy of Headwaters Resort and Casino)

Visitors walk the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on July 18th. (Photo by Paul Bibeau)

License plate cameras scan the plates of every vehicle that passes and compare them to state and federal databases of plates connected to crimes or missing persons reports. (Courtesy of Flock Safety)

Lodies Gloston, president of the United Order of Tents, unveils the group’s new historical marker in Norfolk on June 29. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

This rendering shows the planned commemoration of the end of Massive Resistance at its location in Norfolk’s Flatiron Park. (Courtesy of the City of Norfolk)

Gina Slayton (left) delivers baby formula to a mother in Virginia Beach who’d been struggling to find it. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

Riverside’s psychiatric emergency department will be the first in the region when it opens late in 2023. (Rendering courtesy of Riverside Health System)

Portsmouth Del. Don Scott was elected minority leader for the Democratic caucus in the Virginia House of Delegates. (Courtesy of Don Scott)

Suffolk City Hall as seen May, 2022. (Photo by Katherine Hafner)

Home values have increased an average of 16% across the City of Hampton. Some neighborhoods have seen increases north of 25%. (Courtesy of the Hampton Real Estate Assessor)

Carla Lewis holds up the address placard from her family’s apartment in Ridley Circle. (Ryan Murphy)

Neighborhoods in Norfolk that were redlined by the federal government in the 1930’s now average hotter summer temperatures than other areas.

In April 2021, a Black man from Elizabeth City was shot to death by Pasquotank County Sheriff’s deputies. The shooting triggered protests.

Old Dominion University students Jenny Ditona (left), Kenzi Johnson (center) and Tabarak Ismail organize the first set of groceries for the refugee family set to stay at ODU. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Fish)

Protesters in the summer of 2020 pushed for police reforms in cities across the nation, including Norfolk. (Photo by Bec Feldhaus Adams)

A recent report flagged language access issues at agencies like the Department of Motor Vehicles, though it noted improvements at that particular agency had been made in recent years. (Courtesy Virginia DMV)

Ukrainian Americans and supporters rally on Feb. 25 in Norfolk against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

Protesters rally in Norfolk in support of Ukraine after Russia invaded the country earlier this week. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

Ralf and Sommer, a pair of Malaysian tomistomas, scarfed down rats named after the exes of Hampton Roads' jilted lovers. (Ryan Murphy)

Roughly 33 million Americans have quit their jobs in the last year. (Photo by Ryan Murphy)

The new authority will lay about 110 miles of high-speed internet cables across southside Hampton Roads. (Courtesy of the Southside Network Authority)

The seawall will stretch from the Campostella Bridge all the way to Lambert’s Point. (Photo: Antony-22 / CC BY-SA / wikimedia)

The filing from 13 Chesapeake parents asks the Supreme Court of Virginia to suspend Youngkin’s executive order.

Habitat for Humanity unveiled this 3D printed house in Suffolk on Dec. 21. It's only the second 3D-printed house in the state.

The planned Norfolk bus route overhaul. (Courtesy of the City of Norfolk)