Madison Lipe joins The Paper's newsroom

Madison Lipe

To increase coverage of local news in Burke and surrounding counties, The Paper expanded its reporting staff with the addition of Madison Lipe, who, as municipal reporter, will focus on the City of Morganton, and the towns of Glen Alpine and Drexel.

The addition of Lipe enables The Paper to broaden and deepen its coverage of Burke County’s people, places, programs and politics. The rest of the reporting team will focus more extensively on their expanded beats, and the newsroom can more effectively distribute resources and provide enhanced reporting across all of Burke County.

Lipe earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Appalachian State University. Before graduating in 2023, she was a reporter and associate news editor of the student newspaper, The Appalachian, and editor of Her Campus, a digital magazine.

Most recently, Lipe was government watchdog and education reporter for the Wilmington StarNews, which has been shuffled between four different corporate ownership structures since 2012 during which staff was reduced by 90%.

While in college, Lipe interned at the High Country Press and spent two summers interning for the Hickory Daily Record.

Her reporting begins when Morganton, Drexel and Glen Alpine are still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Helene, finalizing their 2025-26 budgets, and preparing for municipal elections this fall.

“Madison has journalistic talent and a reporter’s instinct that is difficult to teach,” said Angela Kuper Copeland, The Paper’s editor. “Through three interviews, the leadership at The Paper also saw she was a great fit for our newsroom culture. We can bring her on board in part to our dedicated supporters, subscribers and advertisers — everyone on The Paper team who has built an incredible news source from the ground up.”

Lipe is a Catawba County native whose reporting experience in North Carolina ranges from the mountains to the beach.

“Local journalism not only keeps readers informed as they go about their daily lives, but also strengthens a sense of belonging in the community by highlighting new businesses, neighbors’ achievements and more,” Lipe said.

“A good local newsroom will also work to build trust with their community by being transparent and holding people or organizations accountable when needed,” she said. “I believe that The Paper, being community-owned, is a great example of journalists truly working for the community they serve and are also a part of. I’m happy to be back in Western North Carolina, and I’m excited to be a part of The Paper’s team.”