Well-known WRAL reporter leaves the station after 14 years. Her last day on air

A WRAL reporter who led the station’s coverage of state government is leaving after 14 years.

Laura Leslie, who served as capitol bureau chief at WRAL, will leave the station to move into a “management role,” WRAL/Fox 50 news director Mike Friedrich told The News and Observer in an email.

“Laura has been an important contributor for several years, but we are proud of our NC Capitol Team already in place to provide North Carolinians the top notch state government coverage they have come to expect from WRAL,” Friedrich said.

Leslie’s last day on air at WRAL is Friday, Sept. 5. In a statement shared with The News and Observer, Leslie said she will be moving into an editorial role at a nonprofit news organization.

“Thank you to our viewers and readers for welcoming me into your living rooms and trusting me to tell you the truth about state government,” Leslie said in the statement. “I’ll continue to do that, but in a different context.”

Laura Leslie’s career

At WRAL, Leslie helped launch NC Capitol, a multimedia hub for coverage of state politics.

She came to WRAL from North Carolina Public Radio/WUNC, where she worked as capitol bureau chief beginning in 2004, according to her WRAL bio.

In 2020, The Washington Post’s political analysis blog, The Fix, included Leslie and then-WRAL reporter Travis Fain on its 2020 list of “outstanding politics reporters” in every state.

Before WUNC, Leslie worked in California — in Los Angeles as an assistant editor for the American Public Media program “Weekend America” and as a capitol/metro reporter for Capitol Public Radio/KXJZ in Sacramento.

From 1994 until 2002, Leslie was a host and reporter at WFIU in her home state of Indiana.

WRAL departures

Leslie is the latest longtime journalist to leave WRAL this year.

The News and Observer recently published a list of several reporters and anchors who have departed the station since January, including Jeff Hogan, Gilbert Baez and Debra Morgan.

This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM.

Renee Umsted

The News & Observer

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Renee Umsted is The News & Observer’s Affordability Reporter. She writes about what it costs to live in the Triangle, with a consumer-focused approach. She has a degree in journalism from TCU.