Veteran Fayetteville journalist Paul Woolverton, a mainstay in the newsroom of The Fayetteville Observer for the last 30 years, is joining an expanding CityView news team as senior reporter.
He will begin work for CityView — which publishes CityView Today, a daily e-newsletter with more than 35,000 subscribers, as well as its flagship CItyView magazine — later this month.
“Paul has been providing exceptional news reporting for our community and the entire state for decades,” said CityView Today founder Tony Chavonne. “His professional experience and knowledge of our local community will be invaluable in CityView’s efforts to ensure that our readers and our community are informed.”
Woolverton worked as a reporter and copy editor for The StarNews in Wilmington from 1990 until joining the staff of the Observer in 1993. He has written and reported extensively on local government, the state legislature, Cumberland County’s court system, business, the environment and agriculture — among other beats — while at the newspaper. His work has been consistently recognized with news reporting awards from the N.C. Press Association, and he recently was part of a team that won open government awards for seeking the public release of sealed court documents in a lawsuit involving a businessman’s alleged assault of three teenage boys. The N.C. Court of Appeals set a legal precedent for open courts with that case.
“Paul’s capabilities as a reporter and his insights into Fayetteville and Cumberland County — and state politics, for that matter — will add significantly to our capacity to tell the stories our readers want, and need, to know about,” said CityView Executive Editor Bill Horner III. “Our focus at CityView will remain on government accountability reporting, and he’ll be a part of that. But Paul’s also going to have the freedom and the support to explore stories of all kinds and to leverage his skills and experience on a wide range of special reporting projects.”
Woolverton acknowledged the home he’s had at the Observer, saying he is proud of the work he has done for its readers and for the community and state.
“It’s been an adventure, getting out among the people, learning their stories and bringing them to the world,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve covered high-profile murder cases, senators and presidents, farmers, entrepreneurs and everyday people doing extraordinary things. I’ve been there for the disasters and celebrations, and on the front line of history.
“Now I’m looking forward to bringing my experience and expertise to CityView and The Assembly. We’ll have a team that will allow us to bring the people of Fayetteville, Cumberland County and North Carolina their stories.”
CityView’s recent collaborative partnership with the statewide digital magazine The Assembly will also provide another platform for Woolverton’s award-winning reporting, said The Assembly’s editor-in-chief, Kyle Villemain.
“CityView is becoming Fayetteville’s go-to place for knowing what’s happening in the city and why,” Villemain said. “We know there are big stories in the city left untold, and we’re proud to be a part of CityView’s work to rebuild the city’s journalism scene by creating good places for talented reporters to work. Paul’s an excellent reporter and we’re excited to work with him and the CityView team over the months to come.”
