First African-American woman to lead the YES! Weekly newsroom

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NC TRIAD — YES! Weekly, the oldest and largest circulated alternative weekly newspaper in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad region, is getting a change in leadership.
 
Chanel Davis, High Point native and Aggie alumna, will take the helm as the paper's first African-American editor-in-chief. She is possibly the first African-American editor-in-chief for a member paper in the (AAN) Association of Alternative Newsmedia and according to the North Carolina Press Association, one of the first African-Americans to serve as editor-in-chief in the state association.
 
Davis considers herself a news-person at heart because she loves informing the public of what’s going on in their communities and why it’s important. Her journey in journalism began while she was a non-traditional student at North Carolina A&T University.
 
A self-proclaimed “hometown girl,” after freelancing at her hometown paper, the High Point Enterprise, she was offered a permanent position if she fast-tracked her journalism degree. And so, she did – balancing school, work, and being a single mom with a daughter about to enter kindergarten.
 
Davis is also the founder of her own public relations firm called Humbly Press’d, the president of the Triad Association of Black Journalists, and the mother of a 13-year-old.
 
Freelancing soon became a passion for Davis as she began garnering bylines with YES! Weekly; The Chronicle, a Black-owned publication in Winston-Salem; and the Carolina Peacemaker, a Black-owned paper in Greensboro. She’s also landed spots in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution via McClatchy Wire Services and the North Carolina Lawyer Magazine, a flagship publication of the North Carolina Bar Association.
 
In 2020, Davis pivoted her passion for freelancing into a communications business, Humbly Press’d, working to impact social media marketing, analytics, and public relations strategies with brands such as Truliant Federal Credit Union, Winston-Salem Fashion Week, Mogul Movement, Williams Memorial CME Church, The Box Office restaurant and Triad Minority Business Expo.
 
Davis is an active board member of Healthy Guilford, a member of her child’s Parent Teacher Association group, and her church.

“We’re very excited to have someone of Chanel’s journalistic skills and experience lead our award-winning news team,” said YES! Weekly publisher Charles Womack. “Her deep roots in the community and knowledge of the market will help us as we continue to grow the YES! Weekly brand throughout the Triad.”