News Voices: North Carolina
And today, North Carolina sits at the crossroads of the changing South and the nation’s shifting economy. The demographic and political trends now happening across the country have been playing out in North Carolina for some time. The state’s media landscape is also changing — from the shrinking staff and influence of its newspapers to the rise of promising journalism startups — in ways that reflect national trends.
News Voices: North Carolina launched in 2017 to forge connections between local communities and the reporters that serve them. Working with newsrooms and community groups across the state — including libraries, colleges, arts groups and other nonprofits — we’ve strengthened relationships between people and institutions that recognize that the state’s future depends on the ability of its people to communicate, understand one another, hold leaders accountable and forge solutions together.
We began our community-engagement initiatives in Charlotte and the Triangle. We later expanded to Wilmington, Fayetteville and Rocky Mount and now partner with newsrooms and community organizations across the state.
We host small gatherings, trainings and public conversations. We foster collaborations between newsrooms and community groups. And we offer research and guidance to those seeking to strengthen partnerships among journalists, media makers and others who care about quality local news and information. We believe building stronger bonds will foster better and more sustainable news coverage of North Carolina.
That’s especially true when those relationships prioritize communities — such as communities of color, queer and trans communities, formerly incarcerated communities and more — whose brilliance and insights have historically been excluded from journalism spaces.
Help us build power in North Carolina
We’re listening to what local communities in North Carolina need, nurturing the assets they have to build on, and building the power necessary to ensure strong, community-rooted journalism. After all, this is the state where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great.
To make News Voices work, we need to partner with the people who live here: journalists, community organizers, activists, librarians, artists, academics, philanthropists, faith leaders, entrepreneurs and more. If we join together, we can strengthen our communities, give voice to stories that matter, and help those stories make a real impact. Local news is only as strong as the community it’s part of. Together, we can make North Carolina a model for the future of news.
Want to get involved? Reach out to find out how to participate.
