Shelby Swanson

Shelby Swanson covers sports business for The Minnesota Star Tribune. Born and raised in North Carolina, she most recently covered UNC athletics for The Raleigh News & Observer. At the N&O, she broke news pertaining to university legal matters and led coverage of the Smith Center arena debate — using public records and source-building to give readers visibility into decisions that weren’t meant to be visible. Her work at the N&O earned four APSE Top-10 finishes in breaking news, long feature and short feature categories. Swanson’s journalism career started when she joined her high school newspaper and soon discovered nobody wanted to lead the sports desk. She holds degrees in Media & Journalism and Hispanic Literatures & Cultures from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she served as sports editor of the independent student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel. When she’s not chasing a story, Swanson is playing pickup basketball, discovering new music or binge-watching Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Minnesota Star Tribune

With more than 230 journalists, the Minnesota Star Tribune is the largest newsroom in the Midwest and a trusted local news organization nationwide. Th Star Tribune earned this trust through Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting and a deep commitment to accuracy and fairness. In 2024, the Star Tribune rebranded as The Minnesota Star Tribune, reflecting its investment as a statewide news organization.