Matthew (Matt) Schofield, who has covered a wide variety of stories at the Kansas City Star dating back to 1984, will be leaving the newspaper for a position with Star parent McClatchy Company in its Washington, D.C. bureau, according to sources.

According to a memo (right) sent to editorial staffers by the Star’s Editorial Page Vice President Miriam Pepper obtained by Bottom Line, Schofield will join McClatchy’s Bureau March 1 and cover activities at the State Department.

During his sterling journalistic career Schofield has traveled the world and won numerous awards for his stories:

• Winner of the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) - Large-class newspapers and wire services award, for reporting on released Guantanamo Bay detainees (‘09)
• Three-time Presidents Award (company-wide McClatchy/Knight Ridder) for Iraq invasion coverage, coverage of the Iranian nuclear program and Guantanamo Bay coverage (‘03-‘08)
• Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award, for a narrative serial called “Meth Diary” (‘99)
• 19 other regional (Midwest, Missouri, Kansas) reporting/writing awards

Schofield is University of Kansas journalism graduate and holds an MA degree from Harvard, where he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship.

All:
Matt Schofield arrived on the editorial page after a sixth trip to cover the Iraq War. The result: A week-long editorial series
(launched on Page One) offering a comprehensive look at what “A good exit” from Iraq would look like. The U.S. left Iraq (in semi-good
fashion) and Matt is leaving us.
He has accepted an offer from the McClatchy D.C. bureau to cover the State Department and return to
international travel assignments.
We’ll miss his prolific writing talents greatly, his many terrific stories of past journalism encounters, and his good cheer. During his
time in this corner, he advocated for more bike lanes throughout the area, pushed to preserve the tallgrass prairie and reintroduced the
idea of a Buffalo Commons major national park for Kansas, all good efforts we’ll keep working on. He kept watch over Kansas politicians
and our Congressional delegation. And he offered readers wonderful columns, many with inside looks at foreign assignments of his past.
In his career that began in 1984 with The Star and continued with KR and McClatchy, he’s produced many award-winning series, from a meth diary to the status of Guantanamo prisoners.
On March 1, he expands his McClatchy work from D.C. Expect to see his bylines from around the world.
We’ll plan a party soon, details to come, to toast what’s actually his third departure. The first was for a year in Boston on a Nieman Fellowship, followed by a 2003 departure to run McClatchy’s Berlin office. Stay tuned and please join us in wishing him well.

Miriam Pepper
Vice President, Editorial Page