Dan Rea is the conservative-leaning host of "NightSide with Dan Rea" WBZ radio, following the death of Paul Sullivan.

Education and background

A graduate of

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...

(Class of 1966),

Boston State College Boston State College was a public university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. History Boston State College's roots began with the Girls' High School, which was founded in 1852. In 1872, the Boston Normal School separated from Girl ...

(English major) and

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

, Rea is a native Bostonian who now lives in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. He was born at

Faulkner Hospital Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital (BWFH) is a 171-bed, non-profit community teaching hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1900, it is located in the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain across the street from the Arnold Arboretum ...

and grew up in

Readville Readville is part of the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. Readville's ZIP Code is 02136. It was called Dedham Low Plains from 1655 until it was renamed after the mill owner James Read in 1847. It was part of Dedham until 1867. It is served by ...

Career

Prior to his current job on WBZ Radio, Dan Rea worked as a news reporter from 1976 to 2007 on WBZ's sister station,

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (channe ...

, the CBS affiliate in Boston where he won two Regional Emmys and nine

Regional Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Nominations. He also had a small role in the movie

Reversal of Fortune ''Reversal of Fortune'' is a 1990 American drama film adapted from the 1985 book ''Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case'', written by law professor Alan Dershowitz. It recounts the true story of the unexplained coma of socialite Sunny ...

. His present radio career is a return to WBZ Radio since he was on air there while at

in the 70s. At that time, Rea was a conservative activist "...serving as national vice chairman of

Young Americans for Freedom Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) is a conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960 as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians on American college campuses. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ...

and opposing Richard Nixon’s re-election as president in 1972 on the grounds that he was too liberal." More recently, Rea has described his views as being libertarian conservative.

Awards

Rea spent four years trying to clear the name of Joe Salvati, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder. Rea was able to find evidence that exonerated Mr. Salvati's name and he was released from prison.The Salvati Case: Alumni uncover FBI corruption, exonerating client after 30-year imprisonment
For his work on the case, " the

Massachusetts Bar Association The Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) is a voluntary, non-profit bar association in Massachusetts with a headquarters on West Street in Boston's Downtown Crossing. The MBA also has a Western Massachusetts office. The purpose of the MBA is t ...

honored Rea with the First Annual Excellence in Journalism Award. The Massachusetts Criminal Defense Lawyers Association for his efforts in the Salvati case also honored Rea.""Wrongful Convictions: Panelist Bio: Dan Rea"
Harvard Law School, 2002 In June 1988 Rea was presented with Boston University Law School's prestigious "Silver Shingle" award for outstanding public service." In November of 2010, Rea received the "

Yankee Quill Award The Yankee Quill Award is a regional American journalism award that recognizes a lifetime contribution toward excellence in journalism in New England. The award is bestowed annually by the Academy of New England Journalists, and administered by the ...

by the Academy of New England Journalists and the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. This distinguished award is considered to be the highest individual honor awarded by fellow journalists in New England."

Family

Rea and his wife Jeanne, are parents of Daniel III and Catherine Florence. Daniel Rea III is the general manager of the

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawt ...

References

External links

Justice Finally Prevails for Joe Salvati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, Dan Boston University School of Law alumni University of Massachusetts Boston alumni American male journalists American talk radio hosts Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Boston State College alumni Radio personalities from Boston Boston Latin School alumni People from Newton, Massachusetts American television reporters and correspondents