Jack Betts was a journalist and columnist for the ''

Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

'', where he retired as the Associate Editor in 2011. Based in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

and wrote primarily on topics related to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

government and politics. Betts and his wife Martha live near Dan, Virginia.

Education

Betts graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1968.

Career

After graduating college, Betts served as a photographer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He then became a Washington correspondent for Greensboro Daily News,

Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

, and Norfolk Virginia-Plot. He was also an editor of North Carolina Insight magazine while also being a member of the editorial board of the Observer. Here he was responsible for writing daily editorials, blogposts, and a weekly column. After working for the Charlotte Observer for 40 years, Betts decided to retire in 2011. Betts now writes a blog called Rocky Knob Blog.

Awards and honors

Betts has won awards from the North Carolina Press Association and has been inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Charlotte.com"This Old State,"
a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

by Betts University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Writers from North Carolina The Charlotte Observer people Living people United States Army soldiers American male journalists Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-journalist-20thC-stub