The Assembly Network has been recognized with a national Edward R. Murrow Award for our breaking news coverage of the November 2025 immigration enforcement raids in North Carolina. 

The package of stories recognized includes on-the-ground coverage across the state, with work from freelance reporter Greg Lacour and photographer A.M. Stewart in Charlotte, and staff reporters Jeffrey Billman, Jane Porter, and Lena Geller in the Triangle.  

Here’s an excerpt of what we wrote in our nomination:

In late November 2025, signals began to emerge that the Trump administration was moving Border Patrol and other immigration enforcement resources from Chicago to North Carolina. Our team quickly snapped into action, planning our own on-the-ground coverage and also coordinating with newsrooms within our state and in cities where previous actions had taken place to learn from their experience. … We wanted daily coverage, but also stories that could pull back and give readers a sense of what they most-needed to know. We also prioritized sifting between fact and fiction at a time when rumors were rampant and the government itself could not be relied on to share credible information. 

The Radio Television Digital News Association, or RTDNA, presents the Murrow awards each year to honor “outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism.” Named for the late Edward R. Murrow, they are among the most prestigious recognition in news and recognize work that demonstrates the highest standards of the profession. 

This recognition follows the two national Murrow awards our team won last year for sports reporting and overall excellence. The awards will be distributed at an October 12 gala in New York City’s Gotham Hall.

“Over the last five years, we’ve invested heavily to build a team that can truly cover our state,” said Assembly CEO Kyle Villemain. 

“Our 32 full-time reporters and editors wake up every day in their communities and produce daily local coverage alongside the best state-level reporting anywhere in North Carolina. When big things happen, newsrooms need to have their teams already in place–from Greensboro to Fayetteville, Wilmington to Winston-Salem, Charlotte to Raleigh.”

The Assembly believes that covering a complicated and diverse state like North Carolina requires an agile, experienced team spread across our regions, paired with a statewide backbone to support that coverage. 

The Assembly Network is North Carolina’s nationally recognized platform for in-depth, independent reporting about the people, institutions and ideas shaping our state. Our award-winning journalism reaches more than 130,000 email subscribers and four million website visitors. Assembly Network readers are decision makers, business and policy leaders, and community builders who shape perceptions and drive change.

The Network features local news operations in Cary, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, and the Border Belt, as well as a statewide team covering politics, health care, K-12 and higher education, and culture.