Western North Carolina attracts highly accomplished people of all backgrounds, including award-winning journalists from some of the world’s leading news organizations. Volunteers are indicated with (V), designating those who volunteer their time supporting local journalism as a community service.
The News Team
Sally Kestin, investigative reporter, co-founder (V)
Former investigative reporter at The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The Tampa Tribune and The South Florida Sun Sentinel, and recipient of numerous national journalism awards, including the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She was a 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist in investigative reporting. Email: skestin@avlwatchdog.org
Peter Lewis, executive editor, reporter (V)
Former senior writer, editor, and columnist, The New York Times; managing editor of The Bay Citizen in San Francisco; senior editor Fortune magazine; and John S. Knight Fellow and Hearst Visiting Professional in Residence at Stanford University, where he taught journalism. Email: plewis@avlwatchdog.org
Keith Campbell, managing editor
Former vice president and managing editor of The Dallas Morning News, where he managed the newspaper’s coverage of numerous major stories, including the 2016 downtown Dallas police ambush that left five officers dead and nine wounded. For its coverage, The Morning News was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. Email: kcampbell@avlwatchdog.org
John Boyle, reporter, columnist
Former reporter and “Answer Man” columnist at The Asheville Citizen Times, recipient of numerous North Carolina Press Association journalism awards, including the 2016 O. Henry award for Outstanding Writing. Email: jboyle@avlwatchdog.org
Barbara Durr, reporter (V)
Former correspondent for The Financial Times of London and a former editor for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” Barbara was also a senior manager in two international nonprofits, CARE and Oxfam. Email: bdurr@avlwatchdog.org
Tom Fiedler, reporter (V)
Dean emeritus and journalism professor at Boston University’s College of Communication; former executive editor of The Miami Herald; trustee of TheConversation.com/us; co-founder New England Center for Investigative Reporting; former president New England First Amendment Coalition; award-winning investigative and political reporter during three decades at The Miami Herald including a shared Pulitzer Prize in 1991. Email: tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org
Andrew R. Jones, investigative reporter
Former investigative reporter at The Asheville Citizen Times, where he covered county government and health care. Before coming to Asheville in 2021, he was an award-winning city government and business reporter for The Daily Times in Maryville, Tenn. Email: arjones@avlwatchdog.org
John Maines, database editor (V)
Former database editor at The South Florida Sun Sentinel. He is the recipient of numerous state and national awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes, one for Public Service in 2013, and another as a member of the team that won in 2019 for coverage of the school massacre in Parkland, Florida. Email: jmaines@avlwatchdog.org
Gail Meadows, editor (V)
Former editor and columnist for The Miami Herald. Email: editor@avlwatchdog.org
John Reinan, reporter (V)
Reported for seven newspapers from Alaska to Florida. A member of the reporting team at the Minneapolis Star Tribune awarded the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer and the protests and unrest that followed. Email: jreinan@avlwatchdog.org
William Robertson, editor (V)
Former writer and editor at The Miami Herald; as the newspaper’s book editor, he was twice a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his writing on literary subjects. Email: editor@avlwatchdog.org
Starr Sariego, photographer (V)
A native of Miami, now living in Asheville, she believes in using photography for social change. Her latest project, This Skin I’m In, features portraits of the LGBTQIA+ community in Western North Carolina. Email: ssariego@avlwatchdog.org
Management Team
The experienced executives overseeing our business operations include:
Bob Gremillion, Publisher, Chief Executive Officer, co-founder (V)
Former executive vice president, Tribune Publishing Company, overseeing The Baltimore Sun, The Hartford Courant, The Orlando Sentinel, The Chicago Tribune, and other newspapers; publisher, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel; winner, National Conference for Community & Justice Silver Medallion and Urban League Diversity Champion; founder and CEO ChicagoLand Television News (owned by Chicago Tribune). Email: bgremillion@avlwatchdog.org
Linda Topp, Director of Operations (V)
In an eclectic career, she has written blogs, training and user manuals, advertising copy, and even a doctoral dissertation, but alas, no journalism pieces. However, she has plenty of operations experience in various organizations. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio and a resident of Asheville for nearly 20 years. Email: ltopp@avlwatchdog.org
David Feingold, Strategic Advisor (V)
Former general manager and chief executive officer of Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville. Before BPR, Feingold was assistant GM for content at Nebraska Public Media. He has also been an executive editor for Reuters TV, and national editor, business news editor, and London bureau chief for CNN. Email: dfeingold@avlwatchdog.org
Board of Directors
Tom Fiedler (V)
Dean emeritus and journalism professor at Boston University’s College of Communication; former executive editor of The Miami Herald; trustee of TheConversation.com/us; co-founder New England Center for Investigative Reporting; former president New England First Amendment Coalition; award-winning investigative and political reporter during three decades at The Miami Herald including a shared Pulitzer Prize in 1991.
Bob Gremillion (V)
Former executive vice president, Tribune Publishing Company, overseeing The Baltimore Sun, The Hartford Courant, The Orlando Sentinel, The Chicago Tribune, and other newspapers; publisher, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel; winner, National Conference for Community & Justice Silver Medallion and Urban League Diversity Champion; founder and CEO ChicagoLand Television News (owned by Chicago Tribune).
Trish Jones (V)
Former senior vice president and chief emerging technologies officer at Turner Broadcasting System in Atlanta, executive vice president and general counsel of Turner Broadcasting International, and deputy general counsel of the Turner organization. A graduate of Spring Hill College and the University of Richmond School of Law, she earned a master’s degree in international law at Georgetown University Law Center.
Ty Russell (V)
WLOS News 13’s evening anchor and a member of the News 13 Investigates reporting team. A native of Miami, Russell worked previously as a reporter and anchor at Miami’s CBS-owned station, WFOR. He started his career at KNOE in Monroe, La., before working at WBBH in Fort Myers, Fla. and later at WFTV in Orlando.
Peter Lewis (V)
Former senior writer, editor, and columnist, The New York Times; managing editor of The Bay Citizen in San Francisco; senior editor Fortune magazine; and John S. Knight Fellow and Hearst Visiting Professional in Residence at Stanford University, where he taught journalism.