The Virginian-Pilot combines a legacy of commitment to community, ethics and strong journalism with the strengths of new technologies and experienced thinkers. Our mission is to inform, inspire and improve the communities we serve. We serve consumers and businesses from eastern North Carolina, through Hampton Roads, Virginia, and west to just outside Richmond. We value innovation and collaboration across a diverse workforce.
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Leadership
Kris Worrell, 757-446-2321, kworrell@virginiamedia.com
Kris Worrell is the Editor-in-Chief of Virginia Media, which includes The Virginian-Pilot, the Daily Press and The Virginia Gazette. A graduate of Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, she has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s from Syracuse University.
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Kevin Goyette, 757-247-4776, kgoyette@dailypress.com
Kevin Goyette is part of the leadership team for The Pilot, Daily Press and Virginia Gazette, and manages the copy desk, visuals, print production and news teams in Williamsburg and the Outer Banks. He has more than two decades of journalism experience as a writer, editor and designer.
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Jeff Reece, 757-286-0832, jeff.reece@pilotonline.com
Jeff Reece is a senior editor in charge of the news teams that cover Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News. He has been a journalist for more than 25 years. He has a weakness for cold beer, good movies and bad TV.
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Public safety and general assignment
Brian Root, team leader, brian.root@pilotonline.com
Brian Root was born and raised in Norfolk. Growing up, he wanted to be the shortstop of the Dodgers or a city editor at The Virginian-Pilot. One out of two ain’t bad. He leads a team of reporters who cover public safety and breaking news.
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Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
Peter Dujardin has been a reporter at the Daily Press for more than 20 years. He has mostly covered courts and criminal justice issues for the past 14 years. That includes policing issues, and criminal and civil cases in both state and federal courts.
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Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
Jane Harper covers courts and crime in Virginia Beach for The Virginian-Pilot. A native of Southeast Texas, she earned her journalism degree from The University of Texas, and worked at papers in Texas and Maryland before moving to Norfolk in 1994.
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Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
Eliza Noe is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. Previously, she covered drought, wildfires and local government at several newspapers across Colorado’s Western Slope. She is a Mississippi native and received a degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi.
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Gavin Stone, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com
Gavin Stone is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He graduated from N.C. State University with a degree in communication media and went on to cover local government, crime and whatever else came up in the Sandhills region of North Carolina. A native of eastern N.C., he enjoys watching movies he’s never seen and black coffee.
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Business, military and health
Tara Bozick, team leader, 757-247-4741, tbozick@dailypress.com
Tara Bozick is a team leader for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press and the editor of Inside Business, The Hampton Roads Business Journal. The Gloucester native joined the Daily Press in 2012 after reporting for the Danville Register & Bee and the Victoria Advocate in Victoria, Texas.
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Katrina Dix, katrina.dix@virginiamedia.com
Katrina Dix covers health in Hampton Roads. Her previous journalism experience includes award-winning coverage of education; the opioid epidemic; and diversity, equity and inclusion issues, often through a data analytics lens.
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Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@insidebiz.com
Trevor Metcalfe covers business for The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press. Before moving to Hampton Roads in 2018, he wrote for the Danville Register & Bee in Danville. In his spare time, he enjoys classic movies and attending to his pet cat.
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Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com
Sandra J. Pennecke is a reporter for Inside Business. She began writing for The Virginian-Pilot in 1999 as a correspondent and joined the staff in 2016.
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Government and politics
Andrea Noble, team leader, andrea.noble@virginiamedia.com
Andrea Noble leads the team that covers government and politics. She previously worked in Washington, D.C. covering federal policy, law enforcement and the Justice Department, and in Maryland writing about crime and local government. She also worked with a congressional committee as an oversight investigator.
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Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
Natalie Anderson covers the cities of Chesapeake and Portsmouth. Previously, she was a local government reporter at the Salisbury Post in North Carolina. She’s also had stops with the Carnegie-Knight News21 program and The Advocate in Baton Rouge. A native Louisianan and Louisiana State University grad, she enjoys seafood, cooking and LSU sports.
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Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com
Josh Janney covers the cities of Newport News and Hampton. He earned a master’s degree in communications with a specialization in journalism from Syracuse University and previously covered local government for The Winchester Star in northwestern Virginia. In his free time, he enjoys going to the cinema or visiting a local coffee shop.
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Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
Katie King is a statehouse reporter for The Virginian-Pilot. She previously covered government in Wyoming and Washington, D.C. She also worked as a crime reporter in the British Virgin Islands, where she covered trials at the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. She holds a degree in history and political science from James Madison University.
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Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
Stacy Parker covers Virginia Beach government, tourism and development. She’s a Virginia Beach native and a University of Maryland graduate who began her career in journalism as a teen correspondent for The Virginian-Pilot years ago.
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Entertainment, education and environment
Denise M. Watson, team leader, 757-446-2504, denise.watson@pilotonline.com
Denise Watson is features editor of The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. She’s a Norfolk native and has written for her hometown paper for more than 30 years. As editor, she welcomes story ideas that are oddball, fun, anything dealing with local arts, history, personalities and places that make Hampton Roads Hampton Roads.
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Rekaya Gibson, rekaya.gibson@virginiamedia.com
Rekaya Gibson is the food & beverage reporter for The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press. As a freelance writer, she has contributed content to Cuisine Noir magazine, The Spruce Eats, HuffPost and various lifestyle magazines.
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Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com
Nour Habib is an education reporter for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. Previously, she worked as a journalist in New Hampshire and Oklahoma. She is a graduate of Oklahoma State University. She has also lived in Boston and California. She enjoys reading and road trips.
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Patty Jenkins, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com
Patty Jenkins is an editorial assistant in the features department at The Virginian-Pilot.
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Erica Smith, erica.smith@pilotonline.com
Erica Smith is a features copy editor. She came to Hampton Roads as a news copy and layout editor for the afternoon Ledger-Star. She’s been a slot editor; Pilot copy desk chief; night coordinating editor; editor of The Compass and other sections; senior news copy editor; Distinction copy editor; and books editor.
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Colin Warren-Hicks, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com
Colin Warren-Hicks is a features reporter for The Virginian-Pilot, covering arts and entertainment. A North Carolina native, he graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill before earning a journalism degree from NYU. He loves story tips about extraordinary circumstances, eccentrics, has-beens, would-bes and never-wills. Send them his way!
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Outer Banks
Kari Pugh, kari.pugh@virginiamedia.com
Kari Pugh is the communities editor for The Virginian-Pilot. A Northern Virginia native, she worked for many years as a newspaper reporter and editor in the D.C. area. She now lives and works on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
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Corinne Saunders, csaunders@virginiamedia.com
Corinne Saunders covers the Outer Banks of North Carolina for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. She grew up on the Outer Banks, then launched her journalism career in the Appalachian Mountains before returning to the coast. She worked previously as an education reporter, and also spent over a decade as a freelance reporter, covering everything from investigative stories to features to environmental issues.
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The Virginia Gazette and Tidewater Review
Kim O’Brien Root, team leader, kimberly.root@virginiamedia.com
Kim O’Brien Root is the editor of the Virginia Gazette and Tidewater Review. Born a Yankee, she grew up as an Army brat and earned her journalism degree from the University of New Hampshire before settling in Virginia. She’s been a journalist for more than 25 years, writing for publications around the state, including the Daily Press, the Roanoke Times and the Daily Progress.
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Sam Schaffer, samuel.schaffer@virginiamedia.com
Sam covers the Historic Triangle for The Virginia Gazette. He’s from Florida, and he graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Journalism. His past experience includes covering breaking news in Norfolk for 13News Now and covering D.C. politics.
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Sports
Jami Frankenberry, team leader, 757-446-2376, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com
Jami Frankenberry, sports editor, directs coverage for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, including the sports department’s web sites and social media. An ODU grad, he was a sports writer at The Winchester (Va.) Star before joining The Pilot in 2000.
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Sonny Dearth, 757-247-4640, sdearth@dailypress.com
Sonny Dearth is a native of Newport News and has worked at the Daily Press since 1989. He grew up in the Richmond area, has played tennis since age 8 (including four years at JMU) and has been a part of the Virginia tennis scene for decades.
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David Hall, 757-446-2367, david.hall@pilotonline.com
Covering the Norfolk Tides (the Baltimore Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate), U.Va. football and basketball and Norfolk State basketball for The Virginian-Pilot since 2013. Formerly: Eastern N.C., ECU beat writer, Carolina League.
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Marty O’Brien, 757-247-4963, mobrien@dailypress.com
Marty O’Brien has reported for more than 21 years in Hampton Roads. He primarily covers high school sports and Langley Speedway in Hampton. In his spare time, he’s a lover of Kentucky basketball.
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Larry Rubama, 757-446-2273, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com
Larry Rubama is a columnist for The Virginian-Pilot. He joined The Pilot in 1999 after writing for The (Ind.) Journal-Gazette. A former track athlete at Ohio University, he became a sports reporter so he could tell other athletes’ stories.
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Michael Sauls, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com
Michael Sauls reports on Sports for The Pilot and Daily Press. He’s a native of Columbia, S.C. and a December graduate of the University of South Carolina.
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Opinion
Brian Colligan, 757-446-2126, brian.colligan@pilotonline.com
Brian Colligan is the opinion editor of The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. He is the recipient of the 2016 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Editorial Writing and the 2016 Burl Osborne Award for Editorial Leadership. A graduate of Virginia Tech and East Carolina University, he serves on the Virginia Coalition for Open Government Board of Directors.
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Johanna Somers, 757-446-2290, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com
Johanna Somers is the editor of the letters to the editor section of The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press newspapers. A former editor of The Virginian-Pilot’s community weeklies, copy editor and Portsmouth reporter, she is a Hampton Roads native and grew up in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
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Visuals
L. Todd Spencer, team leader, todd.spencer@pilotonline.com
L. Todd Spencer is the photo director for The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press. He is a 1993 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Photography. He became a staff photographer with The Virginian-Pilot in 2000.
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Stephen M. Katz, stephen.katz@pilotonline.com
Stephen M. Katz is a photographer with The Virginian-Pilot.
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Billy Schuerman, william.schuerman@virginiamedia.com
Billy Schuerman was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Mississippi for his undergraduate degree and then Ohio University to work on his masters degree in photojournalism. When he isn’t taking photos, you can find him riding his bike or watching for birds.
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Kendall Warner, kendall.warner@virginiamedia.com
Kendall Warner joined the team in 2022. She a native of the commonwealth, born and raised in Northern Virginia, and is a 2019 graduate of Western Kentucky University’s photojournalism program. Her passions include her cats, bearded dragon, plants, antiques and local coffee shops.
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Audience
Sean Kennedy, team leader, 757-901-2468, sean.kennedy@pilotonline.com
Sean Kennedy directs the audience team at The Virginian-Pilot. He also heads up the internship program. He enjoys plain hamburgers and spicy stories. Find him on Twitter at @SeanDKennedy.
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Waldy Diez, waldy.diez@virginiamedia.com
Waldy Diez is a digital producer with The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. She has focused on digital journalism for the last five years. She has also spent time reporting and producing television. Diez and her morning team won a New York State Broadcasters Association award when she worked at WBNG-12 News in Binghamton, NY.
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Hannah Eason, hannah.eason@virginiamedia.com
Hannah Eason is an audience editor who joined The Virginian-Pilot in 2022. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University and has a passion for bringing stories to life with interactive graphics and multimedia.
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Macy Friend, mfriend@dailypress.com
Macy Friend is a copy editor working with the news sections of the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot, as well as community publications for The Pilot. When she’s not at work, she enjoys photography, running, and volunteering as a camera operator at Water’s Edge Church.
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Presentation and copy desk
Ashley Bermudez, ashley.bermudez@virginiamedia.com
Ashley Maria Bermudez is a copy editor for The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press and Virginia Gazette. She graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Central Florida in 2022 and likes to read and cook Nicaraguan food. The Miami native also enjoys listening to her dad and brother rant about sports.
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Joe Kacik, 757-222-5435, joe.kacik@pilotonline.com
Joe Kacik has been a sports copy/layout editor at The Virginian-Pilot since 2006.
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Matt Logan, matt.logan@pilotonline.com
Matthew Logan is a copy editor and designer at The Virginian-Pilot.
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Clyde Whiteman, cwhiteman@tribpub.com
Clyde Whiteman Jr. has experience as a copy editor and page designer in the sports and news departments. He enjoys watching sports, bowling and going to the gym.
