Northampton County residents: We want you to tell local stories with us
How community members help us do better journalism
Northampton County is one of six counties in North Carolina without a newspaper, according to a University of North Carolina report on expanding news deserts. Belinda Joyner, who lives in Garysburg, once told me that most people she knows get their news from word of mouth or from Facebook, and sometimes through the Daily Herald, based in neighboring Halifax County. Reporters from the News & Observer or other state outlets will sometimes cover major news or events— but it’s not consistent, which makes it difficult to provide context, history, or for reporters to get to know local people.
That also makes it difficult for folks to know what’s happening: what projects are being approved, what is happening to the land, air, and water, what ideas your neighbors may have for making a better home for their children or grandchildren.
“When you’re not aware of things going on in your community, then you have no way of defending your community,” she said. “A lot of things can be done when people aren’t aware of what’s going on around them.”
There is a glaring hole in dedicated coverage of the complex relationship Southerners — especially those living in rural areas — have with their natural environments, and how issues like pollution, extreme weather, and infrastructure are inextricably tied to economics, politics, and public health.
But many people who live in rural North Carolina don’t get to speak for themselves, and the media has for decades sorely misrepresented or overlooked your experiences. When a major news outlet swoops in to cover a story — flooding, a coal ash spill, a presidential election — complicated issues like economic development, resource access, and class and race relations are often boiled down to a simple quote that perpetuates negative stereotypes. It’s a loss for those outside of these communities too. Rural places like Northampton are resilient and tight-knit; they can offer many lessons for people across America.
Southerly is an independent media organization that provides accessible, informative, truthful, well-rounded journalism in places that lack access to consistent, accurate news due to a variety of reasons: shrinking newsroom budgets, media monopolies, misinformation from politicians, social media, and industry.
We want to work with you to amplify the stories of people in Northampton County — stories about the work folks have been doing for decades, and hurdles you’ve faced. We want journalism to be a conversation, not a transaction.
A Kentuckian by birth and now a resident of Durham, I am currently a John S. Knight Community Impact Fellow through a remote Stanford University program that is helping journalists and technologists develop news and information solutions that better connect communities of color in the U.S.
Over the next six months, I’ll be working to improve media coverage and build trust in rural Southern communities by listening to folks about where they get their news, what problems and challenges they face in finding information about environmental and public health issues, and their ideas for what would be most helpful to get information out more reliably — whether that’s online, in-person, through schools and churches, or elsewhere. Once we’ve identified the barriers, we’ll work closely with community members — who will be compensated for their time and effort — to find resources and develop solutions to help bridge these gaps.
We’re starting this work in Northampton County.
The plan is to have a series of conversations over the next several months with people who live there—homeowners, teachers, community leaders, youth, the elderly—and then work with folks to improve media coverage and reach. I hope to use what I learn to inform how Southerly and other local news outlets can more effectively work alongside community leaders and organizers, reach residents, and ensure more stories are told about the intersection of racial and economic inequities, public health and environmental issues, and the future of North Carolina.
Of course, the coronavirus pandemic requires a change in approach — a lot of the work will be online or on the phone — but the mission remains the same: How do we build trust where journalism has failed people? How do we do it in a way that allows you, the readers, to lead the way, since you know the place you live best? How do we make it so everyone has an opportunity to learn and share?
Reporting and telling stories alongside community members like you is key, so that you’re part of creating the solutions. We want to ensure journalism is place-based and meaningful, not extractive. We want to use consistent, reliable reporting and creative storytelling to build trust. Reporting on your’ relationship to your community and environment cannot alone dismantle inequitable power structures — but it a step toward putting power back in your hands.
If you’re interested in speaking or being part of this project, or know someone in the area who might be, please reach out to me: lgilpin [at] southerlymag.org. Thank you!
Lyndsey Gilpin is the founder and editor-in-chief of Southerly. She is a 2020–2021 JSK Community Impact Fellow.
