Meet the N&O’s new Raleigh and Wake County reporter, Nolan Wilkinson
Howdy, y’all! My name’s Nolan Wilkinson. In April, I joined the metro desk at The News & Observer, where I cover Raleigh and Wake County.
I’ve worked as a journalist in four states (Texas, Maine, Maryland and now North Carolina), and I’ve almost exclusively covered the slow-turning gears of local government in each of those places.
A lot of that involves tax bills, rezonings and developer plans, and I’ve already started to delve into the rapid growth in the Triangle. I’ve also covered a nonprofit under investigation for fraud and the details behind the WakeMed-Atrium merger proposal.
Last year, I worked as a local government reporter at The Frederick News-Post in Maryland. There, I closely followed local elections, watched as politicians became embroiled in data center controversy and covered how local artists were being pushed out by growth.
The reality is though, as much as I feel passionate writing about those things, I’m really here to help tell residents’ stories. Whether it’s a drug overdose or neighbors relaying their concerns about the lack of a grocery store in their neighborhood, I want to show how the news affects you.
Behind the stories
I have one anecdote that sticks with me, and I hope it provides insight into how I approach this job:
It was the summer of 2024. I had just graduated from journalism school at the University of North Texas, where I cut my teeth reporting on local government in Denton, Texas.
And I had swung for the fences, moving across the country to work for a newspaper in coastal Lincoln County, Maine.
On this night, I was with a group of a dozen or so people gathered around a large rock just after sunset. The candlelit vigil marked the end of a week of overdose awareness events.
I still remember the lights flickering on the faces of siblings, parents and children.
Some told stories about the loved ones they had lost. Others just lit their candles, the flames revealing tired faces.
But I had no idea what to do with my camera. The lighting was too bad for my small Nikon to capture anything without a flash.
More importantly, I already felt like an intruder, especially after a boy told the group that he lost his mother to an overdose.
So I just listened and wrote what I could. I tried to capture my feelings from the vigil for readers.
I don’t know if I did a good job. But I learned.
Two years and two jobs later, I know that experience forever changed how I approach journalism.
Now, I’m always thinking about how deeply everything I write about can affect people. I hope as I learn more about people in the Triangle, I can tell meaningful stories that connect faces to the news.
How to reach me
I’ve been fascinated learning about Raleigh for nearly two months now, and I’m looking forward to continuing my neighborhood education.
If you have thoughts, questions, story ideas, or anything else you’d like to share with me, you can email me at nolan.wilkinson@newsobserver.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for your support of local journalism.
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Meet the N&O’s new Raleigh and Wake County reporter, Nolan Wilkinson."
