Don Bennett has covered news events in Ocean County since 1964, working for four daily and eight weekly newspapers. He was the senior member of the editorial board of the Ocean County Observer, where his "Monday Morning Commentary'' column and numerous editorials appeared.

Honored many times for his work by the New Jersey Press Association, he won three Lloyd. J. Burns awards for public service writing. He was cited for his work exposing official corruption, the collapse of Ocean County's largest bank, and the toxic truths of the Ciba-Geigy dye works in Toms River. In 2007 he appeared in "Freeheld'' an Academy Award winning documentary about the dramatic struggle of a dying detective in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office to leave her pension to her domestic partner.