New editor to lead Virginia Mercury

Sarah Vogelsong, an award-winning energy and environment reporter, has been named the next editor in chief of the Virginia Mercury, a nonprofit news outlet in Richmond covering Virginia government, politics and policy.

Robert Zullo, who oversaw the site’s launch in 2018, is leaving the helm at the end of the summer for a new national reporting role focusing on renewable energy and the electric grid with States Newsroom, the Mercury’s parent organization. He will be based in Southern Illinois.

“Starting the Mercury and working with the talented journalists who have made it a relevant, useful and respected part of Virginia’s media landscape has been the highlight of my career,” Zullo said. “I know it will be in good hands. Sarah is a nationally and locally recognized reporter, meticulous in her work, scrupulously fair and committed to continuing the Mercury’s track record of insightful coverage of state government that helps Virginians make sense of policy and politics.”

Vogelsong, who grew up in McLean, has been a fulltime and freelance reporter and editor for 14 years, working for the Chesapeake Bay Journal, the Petersburg Progress-Index, the Caroline Progress, the American Political Science Association and other organizations. She will assume her new role July 5.

“While Robert Zullo will leave some large shoes to fill, I am honored to be entrusted with shepherding the Mercury as we continue to expand our coverage of the policy and politics that shape Virginia,” Vogelsong said. “As the local papers that have traditionally supported our democracy shrink, outlets like the Mercury are more important than ever to inform the public, hold the powerful accountable and elevate the voices of those too often left out of decision-making. I look forward to upholding the Mercury’s commitment to insightful, in-depth reporting as we continue to grow and improve our coverage of Virginia and Virginians.”

Vogelsong joined the Mercury as a reporter in 2019 and has won numerous awards for coverage of climate change, energy policy, environmental justice and pollution. Last year she won a first-place award for explanatory reporting from the Society of Environmental Journalists.

She was chosen for the 2020 cohort of the Columbia Energy Journalism Initiative and is a 2022 Metcalf Fellow with the University of Rhode Island Metcalf Institute’s Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists. In 2017, she was honored as one of Gatehouse’s Feature Writers of the Year. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary.