Connor McNeely, a Journalism minor who graduated from WFU in 2023, recently won two NC Press awards for his work at the Greensboro News & Record.

 

He won 3rd place for “News Enterprise Reporting” for his article, “The Greensboro Police Department is changing how they investigate suspected prostitution.” McNeely states, “The article informs the community that Greensboro Police Chief John Thompson decided to change his department’s policy to not allow any initiation of sex acts in future vice and narcotics investigations. Prior to that decision, undercover police detectives could ask for sexual acts from workers at massage parlors in order to issue stronger criminal charges against subjects. It was my unpublished reporting, before the release of the article, that led to this decision. Greensboro police made a pair of arrests at a massage parlor on Sep. 22, 2023, and had one of the women working at the business perform a sex act on an undercover detective according to court records. I found that warrant and asked about the ethics of this practice, eventually leading to an interview with Thompson in which he announced a policy change.”

 

McNeely also won 1st place for “City, County, Government Reporting” for his article titled, “After Greensboro firefighter fired over ‘Straight Pride’ and other Facebook posts, crowd erupts at city council meeting,” which was the second story of his career, written at the end of his first day at the News & Record. About the article, McNeely says, “It describes a city council meeting at which many Greensboro residents both protest and support the decision of the city to fire a captain in the fire department for a history of social media posts criticizing transgender people and Black Lives Matter. Mark Robinson urged “normal people” to “take a stand and absolutely flood this hall” after the firefighter appealed the city’s decision and protested his termination. I got a tip about how raucous the meeting would be from the mayor, Nancy Vaughan, when I talked to her for the very first story of my career earlier that morning.”

 

McNeely now works at the Winston-Salem Journal as the Forsyth County Government reporter. On his career in journalism so far, he says, “The most rewarding aspect of work for me has been the enormous amount of opportunity I’ve received to write important stories as someone who is just starting out as a journalist. I’m thankful to work with editors and colleagues who believe that I can write good stories.”

 

McNeely also shared some advice for anyone hoping to become a journalist or writer. “The most important thing that I have learned about the field is this: It will probably be your own philosophies, observations, experiences, worldviews, intuitions, and unique abilities as a thinker that will determine so much of your success. Being an expert writer, researcher, or photographer will get you far, but the ways in which you are different are often what people most appreciate. Especially employers.”