By Sachi Akmal
On a table outside UNC-Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library, a team from the (Raleigh) News & Observer set out a tray of cookies, and everything someone might need to make their own “zine” — stickers, stamps, pencils, pens, scrap newspapers, scissors and glue sticks.
The team also provided zine templates that featured the N&O and Daily Tar Heel logos on the back — along with a QR code linked to the N&O’s 2024 election guide. Print copies of the DTH’s and N&O’s election editions sat side-by-side.
Laura Brache, audience growth producer at the N&O, held up her own zine. Scrapbook letters spelled out “VOTE,” with star stickers on the cover.
“My first page is my plan to vote: Where I’m going to vote, the location, things I don’t want to forget,” she said.
In partnership with The Daily Tar Heel, the N&O hosted a “Make Your Own Zine” event at UNC on Oct. 25. To reach a demographic that doesn’t read print news, the N&O hosted two events to attract college students through zine-making — creating mini-magazines that, in this case, are personalized voter guides.
“The question is how do we get college-age students interested, not only in this specific issue which is the election, but just engaging with their local newsroom,” Brache said.
This was the last in the N&O’s series of campus events in the greater Triangle area leading up to the election. The team started at North Carolina Central University with a recording of the N&O’s “Under the Dome” podcast on Oct. 21 in front of a live audience and held a similar zine-making event at North Carolina State University on Oct. 24.
“It’s very explorative,” Brache said. “We’re trying to figure out ways to engage that college-age demographic. What interests them? How can we meet them in the middle? And this all stems from a program through CISLM.”
N&O was a part of the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media’s Elections Funnel training series in February and May 2024, which helped news organizations strategize for election season, a critical time for them to build audiences and reach new ones. Each team identified an audience-related challenge for the election as well as strategies to help meet the challenge. For the N&O, the focus was on getting high-quality election coverage to young voters.
“I think the zine is actually really helpful because it’s a way to get to know your candidates. And they have a little quiz (in the election guide) that, based on your beliefs, tells you which candidates to vote for,” said Arwen Bella, a junior at UNC. “I think that, with the zine, helps it ingrain into your memory, and it’ll really help us vote.”
Partnering with college newspapers such as The Daily Tar Heel and NC State’s Technician for these events has been crucial, Brache said. While N&O provided the materials, the staff leaned on student journalists and their knowledge of campus for promotion within the student body and location in a high-traffic area.
“The N&O has been helpful and supportive in our election coverage,” said Lucy Marques, city & state editor at the DTH. “It’s really wonderful to see how much they support student journalism because they certainly aren’t required to.”
Although Brache wasn’t sure about the exact turnout, she was certain all 50 cookies at the table had been taken during the first hour.
The idea for zine-making came from Brache’s creative side, she said.
“I’ve always been into crafts and stuff like that,” Brache said. “This is something that I’ve noticed has come up more among this generation. I’m not Gen Z, I’m a millennial. However, I have noticed that Gen Z really embraces a sustainable vibe when it comes to expression.”
Relationships with student journalists also matter to the N&O’s talent pipeline, as many interns and employees worked for the DTH, for instance, Brache said.
Both traditional papers and student papers have the same goal of increasing civic engagement and community involvement, which makes them good partners, Brache said. This is clearest during election season.
“This event was pretty interesting and eye-catching,” said Anna Raines, a junior at UNC. “I haven’t actually read a newspaper in a while. But I did see this just on my way to classes, like ‘Oh, what’s that over there? And they have cookies!’”