WAKE FOREST — Shawn Taylor, an award-winning community journalist, will serve as the next editor of The Wake Weekly and Butner-Creedmoor News, President and Publisher Keven Zepezauer announced this week.
Taylor took over day-to-day operations of both newsrooms Wednesday.
“Shawn has proven himself as a capable reporter and editor who's invested in the communities he covers, and we're confident that he's the right person to lead our newsrooms in Wake Forest and Creedmoor as we begin a new decade,” Zepezauer said. “We know he'll work hard to keep all our subscribers and readers informed.”
Taylor, 28, graduated from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication in 2014. He moved to North Carolina in 2015.
He previously worked as a reporter for the Sanford Herald in Lee County and as a breaking news reporter and news editor at the Statesville Record & Landmark in Iredell County.
Taylor has been a reporter with The Wake Weekly for nine months, during which time he won a first-place investigative reporting award from the Inland Press Association for his coverage of public record fees issued by the town of Youngsville. He has won six editorial awards from the North Carolina Press Association, including first place in general news reporting in 2018.
“The new year is bringing exciting changes to The Wake Weekly, but one thing that won’t change is our team’s commitment to fair, quality news our readers trust,” Taylor said. “I’m honored to be chosen to continue the 70-year legacy of The Wake Weekly and am looking forward to serving our readers.”
Taylor succeeds Logan Martinez, who served as editor of both newspapers since March. He is joined in the newsroom by Sports Editor Marty Simpkins and writers Penny Carpenter and Amanda Dixon.
The Wake Weekly and Butner-Creedmoor News are published by Restoration NewsMedia, a joint venture of The Wilson Times and the Daily Record of Dunn, which are North Carolina's only remaining family-owned daily newspapers. Restoration NewsMedia oversees eight newspapers, operates digital marketing company Kingsdale Media and offers news and advertising design services as a vendor in the print media industry.
Reach Taylor at shawn@wakeweekly.com and 919-424-1778.