North Carolina’s colleges and universities are a key part of the fabric of the fast-growing state. They’re major employers, research hubs, and workforce development engines. Nearly everybody lives within a 30-minute drive of a community college.
Local, expert reporting on these institutions ensures they’re accountable to their communities. And, it empowers communities to make better choices and push for needed changes.
That’s why we’re excited to announce a new three-way collaboration to deepen higher-ed reporting in North Carolina. Three newsrooms, Open Campus, WUNC, and NC Local, will partner on reporting that focuses on these issues every day. We'll work together to find new and creative ways to get that information to people who need it across the state.
This partnership expands on the work WUNC, a Chapel Hill-based public radio station, and Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher ed, have been doing together over the last year. The addition of NC Local, a new nonprofit newsroom in the state, will allow this work to reach a larger audience.
The three newsrooms will be working with Brianna Atkinson, a full-time higher-ed reporter employed by WUNC. Atkinson is a North Carolina native and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She’s also a part of the group of higher-ed reporters Open Campus’s expert editors coach and train at partner newsrooms in 17 places around the country.
She has explained what’s at stake as the federal government considers cutting university research funding, chronicled Hurricane Helene recovery efforts at Western North Carolina colleges, and she was first to detail how the state’s public universities were responding to a ban on diversity initiatives.
We want to hear from North Carolinians: What's missing in the conversation? Tell us here.
More about NC Local: NC Local is dedicated to ensuring all North Carolinians have access to trustworthy information about how statewide issues affect them. In addition to a new statewide newsroom that works in partnership with news and community organizations across the state, NC Local provides support and services to strengthen NC’s information ecosystem.
More about Open Campus: Open Campus is a nonprofit news organization that ensures communities have the independent information they need about higher education. By placing expert reporters in local newsrooms across the country, we help people understand and influence the institutions that shape their future opportunities.
More about WUNC: WUNC provides high-quality news, cultural and entertainment programming to create more informed and engaged communities. Its diverse and listener-supported programming comes from the WUNC newsroom and studios, NPR, APM, PRX, WNYC, BBC World Service and more. WUNC serves North Carolinians from Greensboro to the Outer Banks through a network of seven stations. Its programs and podcasts are also heard across the U.S. and the world. Learn more at wunc.org.
