By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director For decades, Bill Adair’s days and nights have been filled with a quest to promote truth and squash lies. The longtime journalist founded PolitiFact in 2007 as a solution to a news and information gap:…
By Melody Joy Kramer, NC Local News Workshop Helen Hub project manager I’m a librarian and journalist, and I’ve long been interested in how and where people get information from non-traditional news sources, whether that’s a Discord server or a…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director Each day since Tropical Storm Helene, Michelle Fisher has gotten up at dawn and worked past dark to take care of the community at Camelot Senior Mobile Home Park in South Asheville. The residents here,…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director A steady stream of locals, travelers and emergency personnel fill the parking lot of Waffle House in South Asheville. The familiar golden yellow lights have continued to glow, and jump teams from Raleigh, Atlanta and…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director In the acknowledgements of “Anatomy of a Purple State: a North Carolina Politics Primer,” Political Scientist and WCU Professor Christopher Cooper writes “answers are easy to come by, the thought is in the question.” “I…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director Moving to a new city and state is always a whirlwind, and for journalists, there are unique challenges. Where do you begin with getting to know your new community? What history and context do you…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director A few years ago, Maryland Public Television wanted to expand a local initiative that created special programming and events around HBCU Week, a national effort to raise awareness about Historically Black Colleges and Universities. With…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director Thomas Calder can’t quite remember where the idea came from. The managing editor at Asheville’s Mountain Xpress has been thinking about election coverage all year. They always put together a comprehensive voter guide ahead of…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director Dozens of extremist groups operate across North Carolina, including militia, white nationalist and groups with vague names like Moms for Liberty and North Carolina Parents Involved in Education. They all have different forms and strategies;…
By Catherine Komp, Engagement Director The Food Section’s Publisher and Editor Hanna Raskin is part of CUNY’s inaugural Emerging News Leadership Program and at their first gathering earlier this year, the topic of election night pizza came up. “And it…