‘An essential event for our state’s news and information community’

More than 130 media professionals and transparency advocates from across the Tar Heel state attended the 2023 NC News & Information Summit to learn, connect and solve problems facing local news and freedom of information in North Carolina. The March 16 event, co-hosted by the North Carolina Local News Workshop and the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, was presented as part of Sunshine Week, a national initiative that promotes access to public information.

A Black woman addresses an audience in Turner Theatre.

Meredith Clark, associate professor at Northeastern University, co-presented the 2023 NC News & Information Summit’s keynote, addressing opportunities and challenges facing Black, Indigenous and people of color-led news organizations and startups.

In his recap of the summit, Eric Frederick, NC Local newsletter editor, called the gathering “an essential event for our state’s news and information community.” He added, “It’s hard to imagine a better gathering for catalyzing ideas, forming new partnerships, focusing our efforts in so many of the right directions, seeing friends and making new ones, and picking up a lot of collective energy.”

The summit featured collaborative sessions and workshops on subjects such as covering elections, understanding and addressing the digital information divide, accessing pro bono legal services to obtain public records, and researching the news needs of primarily Spanish-speaking communities. Many of the sessions focused on the summit’s core theme of improving access and equity in the news and information ecosystem.

The event was bookended by two powerful discussions. Erica Perel and Jessica Mahone of the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media kicked off the summit with an overview of the state of local news in North Carolina based on several research projects, including their own census of the state’s news media.

Following the presentation of the Sunshine Awards (see below), the day concluded with a keynote conversation between Meredith Clark, associate professor at Northeastern University, and Tracie Powell, CEO and founder of The Pivot Fund, who presented their research on connections between race, journalism philanthropy and the information needs of communities, seen through the experiences of BIPOC newsroom leaders.

Sunshine Awards

The NC Open Government Coalition recognized several Sunshine Award winners at the summit:

  • Charlotte’s WSOC-TV won the Sunshine Award for Journalism for its coverage
    of transparency rollbacks at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
    Elon alumnus Joe Bruno ‘14 contributed to WSOC-TV’s reporting.
  • Ryan Thornburg, associate professor in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism
    and Media, received the Sunshine Award for Citizen transparency work for his
    efforts to improve public awareness of governance issues at UNC-Chapel Hill.
  • Janet Pierson, town clerk of Huntersville, North Carolina, earned the Sunshine
    Award for Government work for dedicating her career to improving public
    records practice in her community.

Steady growth in membership and outreach

During the past year, the North Carolina Open Government Coalition rededicated its efforts to community outreach to support North Carolina newsrooms and community organizations.

The 2023 NC News and Information Summit – see left – served as the coalition’s marquee community event, bringing together journalists and government transparency advocates from across the state for a day of workshops and networking at Elon University. At the summit, Executive Director Brooks Fuller co-led a workshop on recurring public records challenges for approximately 30 state and local journalists.

The coalition continued to develop its web presence, adding a transparency bill tracking application to its website (www.ncopengov.org), launching a quarterly open government newsletter, and actively blogging on open government matters in North Carolina. Since relaunching the website, the coalition has experienced steady growth in membership and content engagement.

The NC Open Government hotline responded to approximately 140 open government inquires and provided public comment in dozens of radio, television, print and digital news stories related to freedom of information and First Amendment issues. In response to some frequent concerns among its constituents, the coalition held workshops to educate the public on the legality of charging for public records and legal issues that arise when public officials conduct public business by group text message. The coalition also partnered with the news and editorial coaching organization 4Context to host a second op-ed writing workshop, which was generously supported by the Horn Foundation.

The Open Government Coalition welcomed Calvin Hall, chair and associate professor in mass communication at North Carolina Central University, and Eric David, partner at Brooks Pierce, to its board of directors in fall 2022.

The coalition aims to answer open government questions, highlight successes in transparency, and work with you to make government more open in your communities. If you want more information on the resources our coalition provides, call (336) 278-5506 or email ncopengov@elon.edu.

Understanding NC’s media landscape

The NC Local News Workshop, now entering its fourth year, continues to provide cohesion across the state’s news and information ecosystem. The workshop’s mission of connecting, convening and capacity building has been recognized nationally as industry-leading and an example for other states.

Led by Executive Director Shannan Bowen, the workshop continues its community listening efforts across the state to help news and information organizations learn about the various needs of their communities, particularly those that have been underserved and underrepresented in the media landscape. This year the workshop also is embarking on an effort to proactively help news organizations fill gaps in community service, through operations such as a statewide news collective and through capacity building for new services and products driven by collaborative work.

The workshop also continues to focus on supporting and strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion for media organizations across the state. The NC Diversity Audit report, launched in partnership with UNC’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media, provided an understanding of staff makeup and needs across the state. The workshop also hosted its first leadership development program for journalists of color, with the goal of helping participants reach top leadership roles in newsrooms across the state.

People across North Carolina’s news and information ecosystem turn to the workshop for its weekly NC Local newsletter, which provides features and insights about news leaders and changemakers, resources for journalists, training opportunities and sources of inspiration for the collective work being done across our state to reach our shared vision – that everyone in North Carolina can find, access and trust news and information that reflects their community and that it is produced by sustainable organizations. Additionally, the annual NC News and Information Summit has become a go-to event for people across the state and beyond.