• by Ray Schultz , May 1, 2023

Nicole Carroll, who announced she was leaving her post as editor in chief of USA Today, has resurfaced—as head of a local journalism initiative at Arizona State University (ASU). 

Carroll will lead the project, working with ASU Media Enterprise, a nonprofit collective of media outlets, and ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, according to AZ Central. 

Details have not yet been revealed. But the job will be to develop methods of reporting on communities and business strategies for local news outlets, primarily focusing on news deserts, AZ Central adds. 

"When you lose local news, you lose cohesion, you lose political participation, you lose connections in the community," Carroll says. "It's really a crisis, and after so many years on a very big stage, I really wanted my next chapter to be about helping smaller communities save, sustain and transform local news."

Carroll joined USA Today in February 2018 after leading Pulitzer-Prize-winning coverage at The Arizona Republic, a part of the USA Today Network.

USA Today became a majority-female newsroom in 2021 under Carroll’s leadership. In addition, the paper hired more journalists of color, announcing plans to add or reassign journalists to new beats to cover inequities in the U.S.

Michael McCarter was as interim editor in chief pending the outcome of a national search for a replacement for Carroll, Gannet said in April.