Ricky Young has spent more than 35 years in the local news business, including 10 years as a reporter and more than 25 as an editor. He has worked at The Denver Post, The Orange County Register, the San Diego Union-Tribune and The Tennessean and the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. His focus has been on digital innovation and accountability journalism, leading teams that uncovered nepotism at the District Attorney’s Office, corruption at the Highway Patrol, neglect in assisted living centers, unnecessary jail deaths and campaign finance abuses that resulted in the conviction of a congressman (later pardoned). He started at Cardinal News in 2026 with an eye toward telling stories with impact in Southwest and Southside Virginia.