Nicole Avery Nichols (Linkedin photo by Kathleen Galligan)
Nicole Avery Nichols, a veteran Detroit journalist, is returning to the Detroit Free Press, this time as the top editor, the publication reports. She is the first Black woman to head the Freep.
Nichols, 53, worked the past two years as editor-in-chief of Chalkbeat, a nationwide, non-profit publication that focuses on education.
Nichols worked for the Detroit News as a style editor from 1997-2000 before joining the Free Press as a feature writer and editor, according to her Linkedin page. She left the Freep in 2021 to work for Chalkbeat.
She replaces Peter Bhatia, a well-respected editor, who departed earlier this year.
“I firmly believe in centering people and their experiences within the heart of journalism, and I am thrilled to be leading one of America's most powerful newsrooms as we tell the stories that matter most,” Nichols said, according to the publication. “I look forward to engaging new audiences amid our ever-changing and diversifying media landscape."
