West Virginia

Emily Allen

Emily Allen covers West Virginia's smaller counties, towns and the people who live there as a community watchdog reporter for Mountain State Spotlight, an investigative and enterprise news site based in Charleston, West Virginia. Allen spent her first two years with Report for America at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she reported on government and public affairs in the southern part of the state. Prior to that, Allen was on the city hall beat for the Grand Forks Herald, writing about government and politics for communities in northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Allen earned her B.A. from the University of Minnesota. She grew up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

Ian Karbal

Ian Karbal reports on state politics for Mountain State Spotlight, an investigative and enterprise news site based in Charleston, West Virginia. Before joining the Spotlight, Karbal was a Delacorte Magazine fellow at the Columbia Journalism Review, covering mis/disinformation and the media industry. He holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he specialized in investigative reporting in the Toni Stabile Center program. His work has also appeared in The Trace, OpenSecrets, and the Gateway Journalism Review. Karbal, from Chicago, began his career reporting on local government for the Pinckneyville Press in Illinois. His investigative work uncovering biased and for-profit policing practices earned him a Freedom of Information Award from the National Newspaper Association, and made him a finalist for the 2018 Chicago Headline Club's Peter Lisagor Awards.

Mountain State Spotlight

This new investigative and enterprise hub is led by longtime West Virginia journalists Greg Moore, a former editor at the Charleston Gazette-Mail; and Ken Ward Jr., a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner for his longtime work covering coal mining and other polluting industries.

Mountain State Spotlight

This new investigative and enterprise hub was launched in 2020 and is led by longtime West Virginia journalists Greg Moore, a former editor at the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and Ken Ward Jr., a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner for his longtime work covering coal mining and other polluting industries. The staff includes four current RFA Corps members.

Mountain State Spotlight

This new investigative and enterprise hub was launched in 2020 and is led by longtime West Virginia journalists Greg Moore, a former editor at the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and Ken Ward Jr., a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner for his longtime work covering coal mining and other polluting industries. The staff includes four current RFA Corps members.

Douglas Soule

Douglas Soule reports for The Mountain State Spotlight. His in-depth business and economic coverage promotes more extensive coverage of issues affecting the state. Soule has served as the editor-in-chief of the Daily Athenaeum, West Virginia University’s independent student newspaper, for two years. His byline has gone far and wide, including on the front page of The Washington Post and in PolitiFact. He participated in the 2019 Politico Journalism Institute. Born and raised in West Virginia, his hometown is Bridgeport, which is in the northern part of the state.

Lauren Peace

Lauren Peace covers public health threats for the Mountain State Spotlight. She was a reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle/USA Today Network in Rochester, New York, where she helped lead coverage of a sexual harassment case at the University of Rochester. In 2018, she received a Fulbright research grant and moved to Kosovo, where she produced an interactive documentary project highlighting the stories of women throughout the country. Peace is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, where she played soccer, and is a soon-to-be graduate of Columbia University, where she studied in the Stabile Investigative Journalism Program. During her time at Columbia, Peace covered New York State and New York City politics for Uptown Radio, and Pelham Parkway for The Bronx Ink. She is originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, and is excited to get back to the state.

Lucas Manfield

Lucas Manfield is a data reporter for the Mountain State Spotlight, where he’s helping to create a data hub that will be a valuable and lasting resource for journalists in the Mountaineer State. Previously, Manfield covered housing and government accountability as a fellow at the Dallas Observer and interned at inewsource in San Diego. He graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2019, where his investigation into malpractice at a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital earned an award for excellence from the Association of Health Care Journalists. He holds a B.S. from Stanford University. He was the Chief Technology Officer at one startup and vice president of engineering at another. He’s created software for electric cars and holds two patents.

Chris Jones

Christopher Jones was a reporter for 100 Days in Appalachia where, as a digital and forensic reporter, he focuses on white supremacists and their disinformation campaigns.  A United States Marine Corps veteran, who served four years in the infantry and as a machine gun squad leader in Afghanistan, Jones was also an EMT in Pittsburgh. As a freelance photojournalist, he’s covered the war in Afghanistan as well as political and breaking news coverage in the U.S. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Village Voice. In 2019 he worked as a monthly contributor for Pacific Standard magazine.

Mountain State Spotlight

This new investigative and enterprise hub is led by longtime West Virginia journalists Greg Moore, a former editor at the Charleston Gazette-Mail; and Ken Ward Jr., a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner for his longtime work covering coal mining and other polluting industries.