Drew Jackson Email & Phone Number

Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina Area

I cover Johnston County for the News & Observer in Raleigh, as well as two twice a week papers, the Clayton News-Star and Smithfield Herald. Johnston added 100,000 residents in 25 years and is evenly split between the rural farming community it's always been and the next major Raleigh suburb. My stories deal with those two changing worlds, in shifting politics, expanding industries and the North Carolina barbecue that unites us all.

Richmond, Virginia

I helped launch the Chesterfield TD and Henrico TD weekly newspapers, which have a combined circulation of 250,000. Mainly, I wrote stories and columns, took photos and edited copy, managed stringers and developed story concepts focusing on the two counties north and south of Richmond. I also changed the office water cooler as needed, which, as you may know, can be tricky.

Orange, Virginia

I covered the county government beat, writing news stories on politics, crime, economic development and all other oddities and peculiarities of a rural board of supervisors. I also wrote features on Orange County life and created photo essays. I once waded through two miles of creek bed with a summer camp before attending a local fundraising stop for a former governor. No one was the wiser.