Greetings all, it’s Wednesday April 1. We have something really special here in North Carolina and you could see and feel that throughout the day at last week’s NC News & Information Summit. With a record crowd of 300+ in attendance and 28 sessions, we witnessed so much generosity in all the peer learning: sharing skills and resources, problem-solving together, sparking ideas and planning your next collaborations. In the hallways, there were serendipitous connections and unexpected reunions. The sum of the Summit is a full display of the diversity, talent, drive and passion of all those gathered. It's also such a celebration of what you all bring to your work, your communities and the larger news and information ecosystem. As one participant put it: Helluva Summit! 

We are so grateful to have experienced the day with so many of you and will carry that inspiration with us through the weeks and months ahead.

If you attended the Summit, we’d really love your feedback. Please fill out this survey.  It should only take a few minutes and we really value your input in helping improve and shape next year's event.

Today, we're going to recap the Summit and share some exciting updates about Local News Day coming up next Thursday, April 9th.

Glad you’re here, let’s get started.

Announcing the 2026 Sunshine Award Winners

Hugh Stevens receives a round of applause for the Lifelong Advocacy award at the 2026 NC News & Information Summit. (Photo: Tommy Kopetskie/Elon University)

Each year, the NC Open Government Coalition recognizes individuals for their dedication to government transparency, press freedom and the public’s right to know. The 2026 awardees were celebrated in Raleigh at the NC News and Information Summit.

Sunshine Award for Lifelong Advocacy: Hugh Stevens

Hugh Stevens's interest in First Amendment law traces back to his days as editor at The Daily Tar Heel in the 1960s when he joined a long campaign that eventually ended the state’s controversial “Speaker Ban.” He’s spent his 60+ year long career representing North Carolina newspapers, television stations, journalists, book authors and the NC Press Association.

Significant cases include the 1992 landmark ruling in News & Observer v. Poole which established that draft documents are public records; the 2007 decision in Womack Newspapers, Inc. v. Town of Kitty Hawk that found a private law firm appointed as town attorney must comply with state open records law and that awarded the largest attorney fee ever paid; and the 2020 ruling in DTH Media Corp. v. Folt which led to the release of sexual assault records held by UNC-Chapel Hill.

Stevens is also recognized for his role in mentoring and teaching countless students, journalists and media lawyers, including friend colleague Amanda Martin.

“Hugh taught me more than anyone else how to be a First Amendment lawyer or any kind of lawyer,” said Martin. “It is amazing to have been your mentee, but I'm not alone. Hugh is often the smartest person in the room, but he makes space for the people who are coming behind him, to learn and to grow and to have experiences, and he gave us those opportunities, right along with a safety net in case we needed it.” 

Sunshine Awards for Public Service: Jason Hayes, Mayor of Lexington & Joel Ferdon & Samantha Rivenbark, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Mayor Jason Hayes was honored for his commitment to supporting local journalism, civic dialogue and the essential role of a free and independent press. 

“In an era when misinformation spreads quickly and trust in institutions is fragile, Mayor Hayes stands out as a public servant who values the role of local journalism not simply when it is flattering, but when it holds power accountable,” wrote Davidson Local Publisher Antionette Kerr in her nomination. 

Also recognized were Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Public Records Officer Joel Ferdon and Records Analyst Samantha Rivenbark. They managed and processed more than 700 public records requests in 2025, resulting in the release of more than 12,000 records, including all records requested by The Charlotte Observer. Find all 62,000+ responsive records published in the CMS online portal since 2021. 

Sunshine Awards in Journalism: Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer & Doug Bock Clark, ProPublica 

Kyle Ingram was honored for his months-long coverage into legal challenges by Judge Jefferson Griffin following his loss in the 2024 election. Using data-driven and investigative reporting techniques, Ingram found that Black voters were twice as likely to have their ballots challenged by Griffin and analyzed 100,000 voters on the “Registration Repair” list. He also dug into who paid for Griffin’s and Riggs’s legal funds, and how a law passed last year could keep those donors secret. 

“What is happening across the state with our elections is an international scandal in many ways, and I think this investigation was so timely and important to exposing the real challenges that we face in North Carolina,” said NC Open Government Coalition Director Pate McMichael. 

Doug Bock Clark was recognized for “How Paul Newby Made North Carolina a Blueprint for Conservative Courts,” a deep dive into North Carolina’s judicial system and the influential role of Newby who’s spent decades reshaping the courts into politicized tools to advance a conservative, Christian agenda. Clark, who’s been threatened for his coverage, interviewed 70 people who knew Newby professionally or personally, including former justices and judges, lawmakers, longtime friends and family members. Clark also obtained and reviewed thousands of pages of emails, calendars, contracts, budgets, and other documents.

Frank Barrows Award for Excellence in Collegiate Journalism: The 9th Street Journal 

Duke University student journalists Katelyn Cai, Valentina Garbelotto, Reece MacKinney, Paige Stevens, Noor Nazir and Jack Regan were recognized for their extensive election coverage, including “Durham’s Most Reliable Voters share a belief in the power of democracy.” The team started with a question: how many voters show up for every general election, year after year? They used public records to analyze voting record data and found a small number of longtime, consistent voters. But they didn’t stop there, deciding to track down some of these voters for profiles, including a former mayor, an activist and the oldest living person in the state of North Carolina.

“Through this series, our students brought attention to a group of citizens who show their dedication to democracy in a simple yet critical way, by casting their votes season after season, election after election,” adviser Alison Jones wrote in her nomination. 

Watch the NC Open Government Coalition’s 2026 Sunshine Awards here and congratulations to all of the winners!

More highlights from the 2026 NC News & Information Summit

At the "Innovation and impact in student journalism," panel, Skye Crawford (center), editor-in-chief of The Technician, discussed their ongoing investigation into Poe Hall and toxic buildings on campus. 

“This issue is bigger than NC State, it's bigger than Raleigh, it's a statewide issue," said Crawford who joined Nubian Message Editor-in-Chief Nevaeh Sturdivant, Campus Echo Co-Editor-in-Chief Ronni Butts, Appalachian Editor-in-Chief Meg Frantz, and Daily Tar Heel Editor-in-Chief Alli Pardue.

“These editors are leading their publications with tenacity, empathy, and a whole lot of fearlessness,” said Ben McNeely, NC State editorial advisor and moderator of the panel. "These are the people making it happen. Making a difference in their communities."

WFAE's Ely Portillo (far right) leads the panel "Lessons Learned from the Immigration Emergencies" with (from right to left) Alvaro Gurdián, La Noticia; Brandon Kingdollar, NC Newsline; Christina Piaia, ProJourn and Patricia Ortiz, Enlace Latino NC. 

Watch the 2026 Keynote — North Carolina's AI Crossroads: Innovation, Investigation and the Public Interest. Featuring Poynter’s Alex Mahadevan, NC Central’s Dr. Siobahn Day Grady, Code the Dream’s Ricky Leung and Inside Climate News’s Lisa Sorg.

Listen to Due South: broadcast live at the Summit, co-host Jeff Tiberii and a panel of local journalists chatted about the week's top news stories from across the state. 

Miss a session, but want to get some inspiration, guidance & resources? Find decks from the following sessions:

➡️ Crafting your Newsroom AI strategy

➡️ Inspiration to Action: Journalism entrepreneurship in North Carolina

➡️ Social-First Climate Journalism

➡️ Investigating Jail Deaths

➡️ Innovation and Impact in Student Journalism

➡️ Beyond Translation: Reporting With and For Latino Communities During Disasters and Immigration Crises

➡️ Trauma-Informed Storytelling: An Interactive Workshop

Check out photos from the Summit, captured by the talented Tommy Kopetskie (who also designed the beautiful programs and all signage), Elon’s Associate Director of Marketing Communications for the School of Communications.

Elon student Andrew Weber also filmed our keynote and took additional photography throughout the afternoon. Find Andrew’s photos here. 

Many thanks to all the session presenters and panelists, the volunteers who helped with registration and all the attendees for contributing to such an inclusive and inviting event. We also could not put on the Summit without our partner, the NC Open Government Coalition. Finally, please join us in recognizing the Summit’s sponsors, who enable us to put on this event and bring you all together each year for a day that has many lasting impacts on the news and information ecosystem.

NC news organizations across the state collaborate for Local News Day

After the national Local News Day initiative was launched back in January, NC Local had an idea. One of our core values is to listen first. What if we leveraged the collaborative spirit of the local news ecosystem and planned listening events, from Murphy to Manteo? 

We hatched a plan for "NC News Cafes" and convened what I'm calling a giant party planning committee. After a few weeks of coordination, we have 15 events planned across the state, all happening on or around April 9, Local News Day.

NC Local is hosting events in Murphy, Sylva, Asheville, Burlington, Durham, and Wilmington. And we're supporting news outlets in other communities who signed up to host their own events. The recipe is simple: we're inviting community members to come share a cup of coffee and chat 1:1 with local reporters and publishers. We'll be listening to the questions they have, the places they seek news and information, the big topics and issues facing their communities. Through this process, we'll be collectively learning about how we can respond to these information needs. About 40 news and community organizations are collaborating on the NC News Cafes (find a map here).

The Mayor of Kill Devil Hills even added a 1907 quote from Joseph Pulitzer to the proclamation:

"I know that my retirement will make no difference in its cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty."

The NC News Cafes are designed as light-lift and casual audience engagement events that give community members the opportunity to share what they care about with local journalists and publishers. Some locations will offer lite refreshments, swag tables and interactive elements to gather audience ideas on topics, sources and other information needs. Locations include coffee shops, libraries and a Cooperative Extension site. 

We're just a week away, so here's how you can get involved:

• It's not too late to sign up as a partner. Respond to this email or send a note to catherine@nclocal.org.
  
  

• Help promote the events! We have a toolkit with sample copy and can send you graphics for your location. 
  
  

• Know civic, business and nonprofit leaders in your community? Send them 1:1 invites to come your town's event. 
  
  

• Want to help out on April 9th? Just let me know and I'll connect you with the local hosts of NC News Cafe. 

Other ideas or questions, ahead of Local News Day? Send me a note or share in the NC Local Slack community. Thanks to all who've signed up for this collaboration! 

Bulletin Board

Jobs

📌 Sports & News Reporter, Henderson Daily Dispatch

📌 Bookkeeper/Front Office Assistant, Mountain Xpress, Asheville 💰

📌 Graphic Designer/Supervisor & Account Executives, The Mountaineer, Waynesville 

📌 Western Wake County Reporter, The News & Observer, Wake County

📌 Service Journalism Reporter, The Charlotte Observer

📌 Folkways Editor, Inside Appalachia Reporting Corps & Program Editor, WVPB (Remote, Contract) 

📌 Reporter, Grist (Remote) 💰

📌 Legal Fellow, Ishiyama Transparency in Government, NPR (Remote) 💰

📌 Deputy Investigations and Storytelling Editor, USA Today (Remote) 💰

📌 Platform Success & Training Manager, BlueLena (Remote) 💰

Interships

📌 Summer Intern, The Charlotte Ledger 💰 (Deadline is Friday 4/3)

Opportunities & events

📅 News Creator Summit Series: Lenfest Institute for Journalism and Google News Initiative will bring together news organizations and news creators with gatherings throughout 2026 and the inaugural National News Creator Summit hosted at Google’s New York City headquarters. The Summit will focus on revenue models, audience growth, and business opportunities. 

📅 Local News Day Trainings: The national team behind Local New Days has organized a series of trainings to help you maximize audience growth for the day of action and beyond. Sign up for Local News Day here to get updates, invites to weekly info sessions and access other resources.

• Training #4: Apr 14 at 2:00 PM ET (What to do after Local News Day - how to keep the momentum going)

📅 AI Series + 1:1 Coaching from Trusting News and the Lenfest Institute. Led by Lynn Walsh, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for one-on-one coaching after the trainings to help you move from brainstorm to implementation.

• How to create trustworthy AI use disclosures
  April 8, 1 pm ET
  Explore when and how to disclose AI use in ways that build credibility and audience trust. Register here

• Use AI literacy to build trust with your audience
  April 29, 1 pm ET
  Learn how to educate the public about AI - not just how you are using it - but what it is, how it works and how it's being used in the community. Why? People say they want this. Register here

📅 North Carolina Press Association Contests: NCPA has opened applications for the annual awards, including the new A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism. Advertising and Editorial entries published between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, are eligible. Deadline: May 1, midnight.

That's it for today. It was so lovely to meet so many of you in Raleigh last week. Thank you to everyone who attended, presented, sponsored, volunteered and shared words and notes of gratitude. My heart is full and I hope you know how much you're appreciated for all you contribute to the NC news and information ecosystem!  —Catherine