Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media
UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media
By Brianna Atkinson The partnership between Enlace Latino NC and Southerly started at the community college in rural Robeson County in early 2020. In that room, the two news organizations hosted a listening session with the Latino community of southeastern…
The News Reporter in Whiteville, North Carolina is a legacy newspaper that punches above its weight. After covering the rise of the Klu Klux Klan, the paper won one of the first Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service in 1953. The…
The award is an honor given to leaders with significant accomplishments in independent news — and was spurred based on former Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media Director Penny Muse Abernathy’s recommendation of The News Reporter.
In a media climate where journalists, academics, civic leaders, students and more are quickly understanding and prioritizing a need for support in local news, rising junior Preston Fore may have a better understanding of the landscape than most college students.…
By Brianna Atkinson Last year, when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in central North Carolina’s Chatham County, it hit the county’s Hispanic population the hardest. This inspired the team at The Chatham News + Record to create La Voz, a section…
As a rising junior, Brianna Atkinson has considered what her dream job may look like. It isn’t a reporting gig at the Washington Post or The New York Times — it’s to become a local news reporter in her home…
“I believe that (local news) is important for democracy, but not necessarily how it’s done now, or how it’s always been done. I think that I’m interested in it because this is a unique time; we have an opportunity to create something better.”
Sarah Vassello has always loved local news. After working at The Daily Tar Heel as a UNC student, she was especially inspired while giving a voice to her community. Now, after serving in a variety of journalist roles, she is returning to Chapel Hill to join…
The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, a bill that aims to help preserve local journalism through tax credits to readers, publications, and small businesses, was re-introduced to the House of Representatives this week with bipartisan support.
“You can’t move “to” if you don’t know where you’re starting “from,” and for most news organizations, their current reality, “from” is participation in community harm, neglect, or both.” — Cierra Hinton and Lizzy Hazeltine, from their Anti-Racist Table Stakes…