Laura Lee is a journalist and former attorney. She serves as the news director at Blue Ridge Public Radio, the NPR affiliate for Western North Carolina. In late 2024, she managed BPR’s coverage of Hurricane Helene, the most devastating storm in the state’s history.

Laura began her journalism career as a producer and booker at NPR. She returned to her native North Carolina to manage The State of Things, a live daily statewide show on WUNC. After working as a managing editor of EdNC, an education journalism start-up, she became a writer and editor at a national education publication, Edutopia. She then served as the news editor at Carolina Public Press, a statewide investigative newsroom.

Laura received her master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland and her bachelor’s degree in political science and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is licensed by the NC bar.