Meet The N&O’s new higher education reporter, who covers NC colleges on politics team
North Carolina is a hub of higher education news.
From the community colleges that shape their regions to the big universities that power the Research Triangle, there’s a lot to cover. And The News & Observer has long made that coverage a priority.
Now Korie Dean will take the leading role in reporting on North Carolina colleges and universities for The N&O, as the newspaper’s new higher education reporter.
Dean moves to the higher education beat from a role on The N&O’s service journalism team. There, she specialized in researching and explaining the meaning and impact of decisions, policies and events in the news, and what their impact would be in readers’ daily lives.
Dean is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Before joining The N&O in 2021, she was a data journalism intern with The Virginian-Pilot and Dow Jones News Fund.
“Korie is a rising star at The N&O, and she’s exactly the right journalist to take on this high-priority role in our newsroom,” N&O Executive Editor Bill Church said.
Among the areas that Dean will be watching:
▪ The public university system that reaches from the state’s biggest city, Charlotte, to its small towns in the mountains and near the coast.
▪ Political clashes over university policies, and over whether Republican control of state government is enhancing or endangering the UNC System.
▪ Discoveries and advances made at public and private research universities like Duke, UNC and N.C. State.
▪ The array of HBCUs that make the state a destination for Black college students.
In a change, the higher education position will now be part of the politics team. Dean will work closely with reporters and editors who already cover state and federal government, and who will work together to uncover the connections between politics and higher education.
Dean joins a team that also includes Danielle Battaglia, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, Avi Bajpai, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, Kyle Ingram, Lars Dolder and Jordan Schrader.
The N&O relies on readers to accomplish its mission of holding powerful people and institutions accountable:
▪ Send news tips. Dean can be reached at kdean@newsobserver.com.
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This story was originally published May 26, 2023 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Meet The N&O’s new higher education reporter, who covers NC colleges on politics team."
