When Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast in September 2024, Mary Ramsey (B.A.J.M.C. 2019) was on the ground covering it. Ramsey spent two days in Asheville, North Carolina, reporting for The Charlotte Observer on the storm’s aftermath.
Months later, she received the news that one of her articles, which focused on Helene’s impact on voter turnout in the 2024 presidential election, was one of seven included in the package that named the Observer a 2025 Pulitzer finalist for breaking news.
Her reaction to being named a finalist? Shock, excitement and pride — for both her and her colleagues.
Mary Ramsey, right, poses with fellow The Daily Gamecock staff members at the 2018 South Carolina Press Association Collegiate Awards. Photo courtesy of Mary Ramsey.
“It’s not something that you ever expect,” she says. “When you’re in it, you’re not thinking, ‘this could get us a Pulitzer.’ It’s a huge national story. You’re just kind of in it and feeling the emotions of it and trying to meet your deadlines.”
Having grown up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Ramsey said she was familiar with the devastation a hurricane can bring, but it was emotional to see the impact of the storm in a different setting.
“The devastation was really jarring, and [when] talking to people, I remember our photographer and I both getting a little choked up,” she says.
Ramsey has extensive experience working in local newsrooms. She’s been editor-in-chief of The Daily Gamecock, worked at The Arizona Republic with the Dow Jones News Fund, and now the local government accountability beat writer at the Observer — but her work in Asheville highlighted the importance of local journalism.
“It can be hard in the wake of a natural disaster … to get people to talk to you as a journalist,” she says. “[But] that’s where local journalism can really be great, because people know you, they trust you, they know that you understand the scope of the situation, that you understand the community that you’re in.”