Reporter, Mercer Center for Collaborative Journalism
Media Partner
Laura Corley is Civic Journalism Fellow for Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism reporting on topics of public health and education in Bibb County. Laura is also a reporter for The Current and received a Doris O’Donnell Fellowship Award in 2021 to execute an enterprise reporting on Superfund sites in Coastal Georgia.
Laura has worked as an investigative reporter in her home state since 2014 and has covered a range of topics including public safety, government, business and education.
At The (Macon) Telegraph, Laura used open records requests to shine light on the shadows of police misconduct, government salaries, suspicious political connections and more. Her bylines also have appeared in The Douglas County Sentinel, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia News Lab and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
The Forsyth native was named the state’s Emerging Journalist by Georgia Press Association in 2016.
An analysis of 17 reports involving pedestrian deaths in 2021 showed the average time from the 911 call to the Bibb County deputy’s arrival was 9 minutes and 30 seconds. However, several response times neared or exceeded 20 minutes.
The teacher shortage is not a new dilemma, but one that has worsened in recent years in schools across the country. A myriad of factors are at the root of the shortage including fewer college students studying to become educators.
