Summary

About

Source: Webpage

From the push to remove Confederate statues to big shifts in healthcare and energy policy, the Old Dominion is changing; fair and tough reporting on the policy and politics that affect all of us as Virginians is more important than ever. The Mercury aims to bring a fresh perspective to coverage of the state’s biggest issues.

The Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. We retain full editorial independence and are a proud member of the Virginia Press Association.

The Virginia Mercury generally features progressive commentary, though we are open to considering serious submissions on policy issues. We generally do not accept submissions, however, from declared candidates for public office or sitting elected officials. Contact Editor-in-Chief Robert Zullo at commentary@virginiamercury.com with submissions. Please include links and sourcing to expedite fact-checking.

Note: Virginia onAir recognizes that some of Virginia Mercury’s articles and much of their commentary has a progressive  focus. We are mostly interested in their more partisan neutral articles that can be shared in their entirety because they are Creative Commons Non-Commercial. Select the “CC-NC” icon in the footer of each page to learn more.

If you know other Virginia news sources that have partisan neutral and CC-NC content, please contact our Hub curation director at jessler.elvira@onair.cc.

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Staff

Robert Zullo, Editor-in-Chief

Robert has spent 13 years as a reporter and editor at weekly and daily newspapers, beginning at Worrall Community Newspapers in Union, N.J., where he was a staff writer and managing editor. He spent five years in south Louisiana covering hurricanes, oil spills and Good Friday crawfish boils as a reporter and city editor for the The Courier and the Daily Comet newspapers in Houma and Thibodaux. He covered Richmond city hall for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 2012 to 2013 and worked as a general assignment and city hall reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 2013 to 2016. He returned to Richmond to cover energy, environment and transportation for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He grew up in Miami, Fla., and central New Jersey. A former armored car guard and a graduate of the College of William and Mary, he has received numerous first-place awards for editorial, feature and column writing as well as breaking news coverage and investigative reporting.

Ned Oliver, Reporter

Ned, a Lexington native, has a decade’s worth of experience in journalism, beginning at The News-Gazette in Lexington, and including stints at the Berkshire Eagle, in Berkshire County, Mass., and the Times-Dispatch and Style Weekly in Richmond. He also has the awards to show for it, including taking a pair of first-place honors at the Virginia Press Association awards earlier this year for investigative reporting and feature writing. He is a graduate of Bard College at Simon’s Rock, in Great Barrington, Mass.

Sarah Vogelsong, Reporter

Sarah hails from McLean and has spent over a decade in the fields of journalism and academic publishing. Most recently she covered environmental issues in Central Virginia for Chesapeake Bay Journal; prior to that, she worked at the Progress-Index in Petersburg and the Caroline Progress in Caroline County, as well as writing for multiple regional publications. In 2017, she was honored as one of Gatehouse’s Feature Writers of the Year, and she has been the recipient of numerous awards from the Virginia Press Association. She is a graduate of the College of William & Mary.

Graham Moomaw, Reporter

A veteran Virginia politics reporter, Graham grew up in Hillsville and Lynchburg, graduating from James Madison University and earning a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland. Before joining the Mercury, he spent six years at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, most of that time covering the governor’s office, the General Assembly and state politics. He also covered city hall and politics at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.

Katie Masters, Reporter

An award-winning reporter, Kate grew up in Northern Virginia before moving to the Midwest, earning her degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She spent a year covering gun violence and public health for The Trace in Boston before joining The Frederick News-Post in Frederick County, Md. While at the News-Post, she won first place in feature writing and breaking news from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, and Best in Show for her coverage of the local opioid epidemic. Most recently, she covered state and county politics for the Bethesda Beat in Montgomery County, Md.

Roger Chesley, Columnist

Longtime columnist and editorial writer Roger Chesley worked at the (Newport News) Daily Press and The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot from 1997 through 2018.

Bob Lewis, Columnist

Bob Lewis covered Virginia government and politics for 20 years for The Associated Press. Now retired from a public relations career at McGuireWoods, he is a columnist for the Virginia Mercury.

Ivy Main, Columnist

Ivy Main is a lawyer and a longtime volunteer with the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter. A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employee, she is currently the Sierra Club’s renewable energy chairperson. Her opinions are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of any organization.