In the News

CISLM presents research on state of news in NC at NC Local News Summit

Journalists, academics and news professionals traveled to Elon University to report updates on their respective works and share ideas on sustainability in local news.

Lansing State Journal declines lead to shifting business model

It’s difficult to balance limited resources with sustaining a print product and an expanding digital landscape. The news isn’t all bad, Perel points out. New digital mediums mean new ways for diverse voices to infiltrate the industry.

Shorenstein Center publishes research on local public radio filling news gaps

Jessica Mahone, current CISLM research director and former Pew Research Center research associate, co-authored a study referenced in the paper.

LION serves local news organizations through sustainability audits

When making informed decision-making for your organization, CISLM Director Erica Perel advises surveying audiences to evaluate their needs. This audience research is imperative to understanding who you are writing for and how they behave.

Unionizing protected some local journalists from Gannett layoffs

Record-Courier News Guild’s workers were protected by their union status, but many other Gannett newsrooms were not, CISLM Research Director Jessica Mahone said in a Columbia Journalism Review article.

Celebrating Latinx journalists during Latinx Heritage Month

Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media Director Erica Beshears Perel emphasized the importance of Latinx journalists and their multifaceted services to the industry.

LISTEN: Rethinking the business of local news

Featuring UNC-Knight Intiatitve Table Stakes alumni members Glenn Burkins of QCity Metro (cohort four) and Angie Newsome of Carolina Public Press (cohort two), the podcast highlights how the news industry has changed in the past few years.

Through Table Stakes, Knoxville News Sentinel improves coverage of Black communities

Citing the newsroom’s involvement in the UNC-Knight Table Stakes Initiative, Social Justice, Race and Equity Reporter Angela Davis wrote that the Knoxville News Sentinel is making good on its commitment to improving its coverage of Black communities.

How N.C. A&T students changed the way Greensboro newspapers make headlines

North Carolina A&T State University students researched local news reporting in Greensboro and discovered that media outlets often used the institution as a locator for crime in its surrounding region.

New digital publications in NC open primarily in cities

“We suspect many of the local sites are not based in or actually operating within the communities they serve,” Mahone wrote alongside Duke’s Philip Napoli.

NC family with local news legacy wins Tom and Pat Gish Award

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.

Nonprofit newsrooms turn rivalry into revenue streams

A recent Better News episode of the It’s all Journalism podcast features Erica Perel, new director of the UNC Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media (UNC CISLM), in a segment examining a UNC Table Stakes-inspired fundraising challenge Perel…