P.R. Lockhart is an investigative and explanatory journalist currently working as an economic development reporter in Charleston, West Virginia. She writes for Mountain State Spotlight, a nonprofit investigative newsroom focused on exposing injustice and abuses of power in West Virginia, and her focus is on economic policy, business and labor and their impact on rural communities. Her background is in national reporting on race, justice and equity, and she has previously worked as a race and identity reporter for Vox, and as a freelance writer covering Black communities, civil rights, and policing for various outlets, including NBC News and the Guardian US. She was a Ben Bagdikian Fellow at Mother Jones from 2016-2017, and was also a 2023 Data Institute Fellow through Howard University’s Center for Journalism & Democracy. P.R. received a bachelor's degree in psychology and a certificate in policy journalism and media studies from Duke University.