Editor
Lorry Williams spent more than 30 years as an editor and reporter before joining CityView TODAY. She most recently served as the executive editor at The Fayetteville Observer, the first woman to hold that position. She served in a number of other editing and reporting jobs on numerous beats at the Observer. A native of Cumberland County, she has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Lorry can be contacted at: lwilliams@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500, Ext. 319
Assistant editor
Bobby Parker has been in the news business for more than 40 years as a copy editor, writer, page designer, section editor and desk supervisor. As a teenager, he would read two or three newspapers daily because — well, he thought it was important to be informed. He has worked for newspapers in Fayetteville, Wilmington, Salisbury and Sarasota, Fla. A native of Robersonville in eastern North Carolina, he earned a bachelor’s degree at UNC-Wilmington and studied journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Bobby can be contacted at: bparker@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500
Government Accountability Reporter
Throughout his career as a journalist, Ben Sessoms has covered various topics such as housing, COVID-19, the environment and local government for outlets across North Carolina, including Carolina Public Press and The Raleigh News & Observer. He is an alum of Report for America, a national service program that places reporters in newsrooms across the country to report on under-covered issues. He covers the Fayetteville City Council and the Cumberland County Board of Education for CityView TODAY.
Ben can be contacted at: bsessoms@cityviewnc.com
Investigative reporter
Greg Barnes worked as an investigative reporter and editor at The Fayetteville Observer for about 30 years before retiring in 2018. That year, he was named Gatehouse Media’s News Writer of the Year. A year earlier, Gatehouse named him Beat Reporter of the Year. He most recently worked as a freelance reporter for three years at NC Health News, where he wrote extensively on contaminated drinking water and other environmental health issues.
Greg can be contacted at: gregbarnes401@gmail.com
Jason Brady has worked as an editor, reporter and public information officer. He is familiar with the Fayetteville community, having spent several years working as a city government and military reporter for The Fayetteville Observer. He also worked with the city of Fayetteville as a public information officer and as the governmental affairs director. He is a graduate of Western Kentucky University with a double major in government and mass communications with a concentration in photojournalism. He also has a master’s degree in English from East Carolina University. He covers Cumberland County for CityView TODAY.
Jason can be contacted at: jbrady@cityviewnc.com
Reporter
Jason Canady is an award-winning writer from Fayetteville. He has written for CityView Magazine and most recently worked in the University Relations Department at Methodist University. He covers Hope Mills government for CityView TODAY.
Jason can be contacted at: jcanady@cityviewnc.com
Columnist
Bill Kirby Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent 49 years as a newspaper editor, reporter and columnist covering Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the Cape Fear Region for The Fayetteville Observer. He most recently has written for CityView Magazine.
Bill can be contacted at: billkirby49@gmail.com
Reporter
Jami McLaughlin writes about Spring Lake for CityView TODAY. She is a freelance multimedia journalist with deep family roots in Spring Lake and in Cumberland County. She has written for the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal, Up & Coming Weekly and The Fayetteville Observer and has written the blog Fayetteville Area Mom on the Go since 2018. She served as the mayor pro tem and a Spring Lake alderman from 2003-2007. She is a graduate of East Carolina University, where she received a bachelor's degree in communications, and Central Michigan University, where she earned a master's degree in administration.
Jami can be contacted at: jmclaughlin@cityviewnc.com
