Bre Payton
Bre Payton
Bre Payton (June 8, 1992 - December 28, 2018) was a writer and political commentator based out of Washington D.C. She was a Staff Writer for The Federalist who covers culture and millennial politics. [1]
Early Life & Education
Bre Payton attended Western Christian High School in Upland, California. She graduated from Patrick Henry College in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Journalism. She had previously attended Citrus College in Glendora, California.
Career
Bre Payton was a staff writer for The Federalist from June 2015 to December 2018. She was the site's culture and millennial politics reporter and wrote on subjects ranging from Kanye West to Supreme Court rulings to breaking news. [1]
Bre Payton appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, BBC World News, among others. Her work was featured in publications including the Wall Street Journal , Washington Times , The Daily Signal , WORLD Magazine , and The Daily Caller . [1]
Bre Payton previously worked for Watchdog.org, a nonprofit, investigative news site that focuses on government waste, fraud, and abuse. [1] Bre Payton started as a reporter in May 2013 and later became an Education Reporter in May 2015. At Watchdog.org, she wrote 120 over articles.
From August to December 2013, Bre Payton was the Layout and Web Editor of the Journal of International Social Affairs.
In this role, she worked closely with a group of students to produce monthly print issues using the Adobe Creative Suite. She designed and edited each issue. Payton also launched and regularly updated a website to feature the stories.
Bre Payton interned at the National Journalism Center from May to August 2013. In this role, she attended weekly journalism seminars.
From January to May 2013, Bre Payton was the Social Media coordinator for Patrick Henry College. She managed all of PHC’s social media accounts, coordinated projects that engaged current and prospective students as well as the general public. She implemented new strategies that increased PHC’s followers/friends by a significant percentage. Payton contributed to web content and management of the school’s website. She also wrote multiple stories on campus events.
From January to September 2012, Bre Payton was a freelance writer for WORLD Magazine . She wrote feature and hard stories for WORLD’s national website and its Virginia periodical.
From January to December, 2011, Bre Payton was a Features Editor for the Citrus College Clarion. She provided content for and ensured that the Features section of the bi-weekly newspaper was full each issue; researched, assigned, wrote and edited stories in this section; designed and produced the paper.
Death
On Friday, December 28, 2018, Bre Payton died from sudden illness at the age of 26, according to her employer The Federalist. [1]
"Bre has passed," publisher Ben Domenech tweeted. "We are devastated. Last we saw her, she was her funny, smart, vivacious self. Now lost to us so suddenly."
Payton was in California this week guest-hosting a show on the One America News Network. On Wednesday, Payton told her Twitter followers to tune in that night to see her on television. Thursday morning, Payton's friend Morgan Murtaugh und her "unresponsive and barely breathing."
Murtaugh called 911 and Bre Payton was taken to the hospital. She was admitted to the ICU, sedated, and intubated. According to Murtaugh, after a CT scan and hours of testing, doctors determined she had the H1N1 flu and possibly meningitis.
Personal Life
Payton was survived by her parents, George and Cindy Payton, and her four siblings - James, Jack, Christina, and Cheekie.
Her boyfriend, Ryan Colby, is a media relations associate for Becket Law, a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths.