Alex Degman

Alex Degman covers Illinois state government for WBEZ; his work is also shared with public radio stations across Illinois plus St. Louis.

Degman (which is actually what most people call him instead of ‘Alex’) reported from Springfield professionally from 2011 to 2015, preceded by Tri States Public Radio in Macomb (2009-2011) and followed by KMOX in St. Louis (2015-2022). Even in those non statehouse specific roles, he became a go to person for many things Illinois state government related.

Degman is a native of north suburban Northbrook and graduated from Glenbrook North High School in 2004, that’s where he caught the radio bug that never really went away. He graduated from Western Illinois University in 2008, which is where he caught the news bug that didn’t go away. Degman got his Master of Arts in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield in 2009, where he caught the “reporting on Illinois public policy bug” that… well, you know.

Outside of work, Degman enjoys slowly working on the 1864 Lincoln-era home he purchased in Springfield’s Enos Park neighborhood (no, there aren’t ghosts that knew President Lincoln, much to his disappointment), attempting to cook, exploring local places to support and raising Louie, a black lab mix that is a handful and a half. Louie formed Degman’s unintentional tradition of naming his black labs after Venezuelan White Sox players: Louie is named after Luis Aparicio, the late Ozzie was named after Ozzie Guillen.