McClatchy names new executive editor for The News & Observer and Herald-Sun
Nicole Stockdale, a native Midwesterner who has helped oversee five newsrooms in California for McClatchy in recent years, will become the next executive editor of The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun.
Stockdale replaces Bill Church, who left the Triangle after three years last summer to become executive editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Robyn Tomlin, who oversees news operations for McClatchy nationwide, announced his successor on Thursday. Tomlin told N&O staff that competition for the job was stiff, but that Stockdale stood out because of her “visionary leadership, strategic acumen and collaborative nature.”
“This was a tough decision. We had an extraordinarily large and talented pool of candidates, people who really wanted to be the editor of The News & Observer, and that’s really a testament to all of you,” she said during a remote morning call with the staff. “Really any number of people could have done a terrific job. But the search team really felt that Nicole was the right choice to lead The N&O at this moment.”
Stockdale, who will start Feb. 17, said she believes she’s coming to a strong newsroom that is already doing journalism that serves the community and the state.
“We’ll just be looking at working together to build on that foundation, accelerating growth, finding ways to reach consumers in an environment that is always changing,” she said in an interview. “There’s nothing here that is broken. It is all an opportunity to build upon what you all are already doing.”
‘What audiences need and expect from us’
Stockdale, 47, was born in Nebraska and raised in Kansas. She came of age in Wichita, where she started her journalism career as a copy editor at The Wichita Eagle.
In 2003, Stockdale and her husband, journalist Corbett Smith, moved to his native Texas, where they worked for The Dallas Morning News. She started as a copy editor, then took on larger, influential roles and served on a committee that guided the newsroom transformation from print to digital.
“That started me on a path of really wanting to understand how the newsroom fits in with the larger ecosystem of business and technology and advertising and what audiences need and expect from us,” she said.
Stockdale became the paper’s first director of digital strategy in 2018. She left to join McClatchy as a senior managing editor for its five California papers in 2022. She’s been based at The Sacramento Bee, where she led several newsroom teams, including reporters who covered politics and did investigations.
Stockdale said she doesn’t view The N&O job as a stepping stone to something else. She and her husband see Raleigh as a good place for their kids, ages 10, 12 and 14, and said she’s looking forward to becoming a part of the Triangle community.
As she introduced Stockdale to the staff, Tomlin praised The N&O’s managing editors, Thad Ogburn and Elizabeth Walters, who guided the paper after Church’s departure through a busy time that included the fall election and Hurricane Helene.
Stockdale told the staff she’s been following the paper’s coverage closely in recent months.
“One thing that shines through in your work and in your reputation, as I talk to other people about what they knew about The News & Observer, is how much you care about one another and about this community,” she said.
“I think that sense of camaraderie and commitment is at the heart of good journalism.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 12:20 PM.
