Frank Taylor returned to Carolina Public Press this week to oversee its news operations as editor in chief.
Taylor, who previously was CPP managing editor from 2015 to 2022, served as Columbia editor of The Post and Courier, which is based in Charleston, South Carolina, since leaving CPP.
“While I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to lead a sharp reporting team at an excellent newspaper in recent months, I’ve greatly missed North Carolina and the nonprofit investigative and in-depth mission of Carolina Public Press,” Taylor said.
Taylor was editor and in some cases writer or co-writer of several of CPP’s most impactful, widely read and highly awarded stories and projects, including the 2017 Questionable Care investigation into state oversight of adult care homes, the 2019 Seeking Conviction collaborative project on sexual assault prosecutions and the 2022 Dodging Standards probe into social services agencies hiring unqualified personnel.
The organization received more than 50 awards from the North Carolina Press Association for news content developed under Taylor’s leadership.
Prior to joining CPP the first time in 2015, Taylor had worked an editor, investigative reporter and editorial writer at multiple newspapers throughout the Southeast, including The Fayetteville Observer, Florida Today, The Lincoln Times-News and The Mecklenburg Times.
A Florida native, Taylor first moved to North Carolina as a child and graduated from high school in Sanford. He later studied journalism and earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina.
In addition, he has done extensive graduate work in history at Florida State University and Western Carolina University and taught history as an adjunct professor at Brevard College for several years. His historical research has focused on North Carolina during the American Revolution.
“I’m excited to be returning to North Carolina,” Taylor said. “I want CPP to continue its outstanding efforts on behalf of people across this state that I know and love so much.”
While Taylor and his family plan to reside in central North Carolina after moving back to the state in coming weeks, he has lived, worked or studied in counties across the state at different times, including Buncombe, Catawba, Cabarrus, Cumberland, Edgecombe, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Orange, Robeson and Transylvania.
These experiences give him direct knowledge and appreciation of each unique region, Taylor said, which he hopes to translate into plans for news coverage that will explore aspects of all parts of the state.
Carolina Public Press, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a statewide independent and nonpartisan online provider of in-depth and investigative news about public interest issues in North Carolina. The organization launched in 2011, when it was based in Asheville and covered the state’s westernmost counties. In 2018, CPP’s mission went statewide. Its office moved to Durham earlier this year to be more centrally located.
Send Taylor an email at ftaylor@carolinapublicpress.org to contact him.