Greetings all, it’s Wednesday, September 2. Today, we’re excited to share Voces de Charlotte, a bilingual journalism storytelling event NC Local is hosting with the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative and other partners. Ahead of the first anniversary of “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” we are convening the immigrant community to hear from local journalists and community members. Participants will share the story of what happened over the last year, how families are navigating the search for missing loved ones and the ongoing challenges to transparency and accountability. The event will incorporate community listening to help news providers understand how to connect people with trusted information during emergencies. And, we’ll uplift the solutions and artistic responses community members have created in the face of challenges. 

We hope to see you Thursday October 1, from 5:30-8:00 pm in Charlotte. The event is free, but registration is required. Know a friend or colleague who might be interested in attending? We’d love for you to share this with them. 

In the mix this week:

• What happened inside the G20 in Asheville? Coverage is limited after some local & national journalists are denied credentials for the event.
  
  

• “I love this newspaper.” After 30 years, a longtime editor is pushed out of the Lee-owned Independent Tribune. 
  
  

• What happens when local law enforcement are accused of abusing juveniles in detention? An independent journalist in WNC finds no accountability one year after youth were tased, pepper sprayed and held in solitary confinement.   

Glad you’re here, let’s get started.

As NC Sheriff seeks re-election, one independent reporter investigates abuses of youth in detention, domestic violence protective order

Sarah Scully's been reporting on Madison County as a volunteer, independent anchor and reporter for WNC Grassroots Media since Helene. She's seen here in a screenshot from her newest story about a domestic violence protective order against Madison County Sheriff James Ernest “Buddy” Harwood. 

WNC Grassroots Media Reporter/Anchor Sarah Scully started getting tips about the Madison County Sheriff's office after she covered federal charges against former Chief Deputy Coy Phillips earlier this summer. Arrested in June, Phillips is accused of multiple felonies including allegedly giving drugs and weapons to inmates, assaults with a firearm on a detention facility employee and involuntary servitude of an inmate.

"Just a small, basic news story on Coy set off a trickle of anonymous sources that became a river and then a flood of people telling me their stories, sending me documentation and pleading for a voice through this work," said Scully.

Scully spent the summer following up on those tips and digging into questions and concerns about what's happening inside the Madison County Sheriff's Office, especially as Sheriff "Buddy" Harwood and local District Attorney Seth Banks are up for re-election this year. 

Scully, an Army veteran whose primary distribution platform is Facebook, has been looking into reports of abuse by young people at the Madison County Juvenile Detention Center. Youth detained there said they were tased, pepper sprayed and put into solitary confinement — some for up to 120 days. Some were put in a "detox" cell as a form of discipline: a smelly, cold and bare room with a hole in the floor for relieving themselves. 

The youth were removed and the facility shut down shortly after Disability Rights North Carolina reported the abuses in 2025. DRNC called treatment of the youth "horrific," and said they were also denied educational services in violation of state and federal law. 

With abuses so severe, Scully’s been asking questions about if and how the sheriff’s department, DA and state have responded:

In the hunt to find out any possible recommended charges by DSS, I started a series of emails Aug. 12 with DSS parent agency, the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ Press Assistant Hannah Jones.

In an Aug. 26 email, Jones said that any charges recommended for those officers in the DSS investigation would actually come from the law enforcement agency and district attorney.

Since the sheriff’s office under Harwood is the same law enforcement agency accused of abuse that could then be responsible for any recommended charges, I asked Jones if there was any protocol on that situation in an Aug. 26 email, but did not receive a response by press time. I first reached out to District Attorney Seth Banks’s office about possible JDC charges in a July 27 email, and then again in an Aug. 21 email, but have not received any responses by press time.

From what Scully's learned so far, no action has been taken, officers involved are still employed and even if state policy prohibits solitary confinement and use of force in juvenile facilities, “county-operated facilities are subject to policies and procedures established by the local authorities who operate those facilities.”

Scully also followed up on a tip about domestic violence accusations against Sheriff Harwood. She went to the Buncombe County Courthouse and found records from 1994 when Harwood threatened his then-wife with a knife while she was holding their 3-year-old daughter. With that story, Scully set out to understand state and local policies for hiring officers with records of domestic violence. She found a 1997 law changed violations of Domestic Violence Protection Orders from civil to criminal Class A1 misdemeanor. But, Scully reports, that doesn't mean they're disqualified from all law enforcement positions. 

If the sheriff’s DVPO violation had happened after the 1997 law change, and he then had a Class A1 misdemeanor for domestic violence, would he be able to be a cop now?

Possibly, yes, as the NC Department of Justice does not exclude a Class A1 misdemeanor on minimum requirements for police officers.

Possibly, no, as individual law enforcement agencies may require higher standards with a DVPO violation an automatic disqualifier, as seen on the Rocky Mount, NC police requirements page.

In both investigations, Scully is uncovering inconsistencies between state and local policies when it comes to public safety and accountability for wrongdoing. 

Scully also covers local businesses, nonprofits, arts and culture. Earlier this year, she reported on the county commissioners’ attempted takeover of the health board and investigated the school board’s budget issues. But now, she's doing accountability coverage of the most powerful institutions in the county. 

"I’ve lost count of how many people say they’re praying for me, thanking me for covering these stories and warning that I could get hurt reporting these investigative stories on the sheriff’s office, particularly on Sheriff 'Buddy' Harwood and his former Chief Deputy Coy Phillips," said Scully.

But without local, independent reporting, says Scully "corruption, harm and secrets can rise unchecked."

"I might be wearing heels now instead of combat boots, but my commitment to our American ideals and our people help give me strength to keep striding forward voicing the stories of local journalism," said Scully.

Want to cover this story for your news outlet? Sarah is happy to serve as a resource. Get in touch at sarahscully31@gmail.com.

Investigating law enforcement and other positions of power is difficult for any reporter, but especially independent journalists who don’t have the same institutional and peer supports as established newsrooms. We have several of these committed and courageous solo journalists in our ecosystem, including Corinne Sauders at Outer Banks Insider who’s had two public officials threaten to sue her in the last six months because of her accountability coverage. One of them is a sitting County Commissioner arrested on a DWI; another a deep-dive into a Sheriff’s candidate during the primary, including accusations against him of domestic violence, a suspension without pay, failure to pay child support and more. Saunders won the Center for Integrity in News Reporting Award of Excellence for that story, which will be presented next week at the NC Press Association’s annual awards dinner.

Thank you Corinne and Sarah for all your vital work! And for other solopreneurs and independents working on difficult stories, a reminder of some resources that can help:

➡️ ProJourn pro bono legal assistance

➡️ Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press hotline and legal resources

➡️ IWMF 1:1 safety consultations

➡️ Media Resilience Network’s free, confidential & anonymous mental health support

NC Local Opportunities! 

Consider our open positions and share with your friends

Alamance Community Reporter: The Alamance Fabric is a weekly news initiative for Alamance County, a diverse and growing county in the central Piedmont region of North Carolina. We’re seeking a full time community reporter to report, write and publish our weekly newsletter, manage the Alamance Fabric website and social accounts, and convene community members to learn about their information needs. Priority deadline for applications is September 10. 

Development Director: NC Local is looking for an experienced fundraiser and development strategist to lead and grow our philanthropic efforts. You'll build and direct our development team, own our fundraising strategy and work closely with our CEO to develop an individual donor program and cultivate our current and prospective institutional funders. Priority deadline for applications is September 20.

Membership Manager: NC Local is seeking a skilled audience strategist to develop our audience and build a membership program from the ground up. As a new brand, NC Local is on a fast-paced path to developing a loyal audience for our journalism, regional newsletters and across our growing partnership network. Our readers appreciate our work and are sending recurring donations. Now, it’s time to develop a membership program that charts pathways from reader to supporter. Priority deadline for applications is September 20.

📰 News about the News 📰

Lee Enterprises cuts longtime editor at The Independent Tribune

Mark Plemmons, who spent nearly 30 years at The Independent Tribune, announced that Lee Enterprises eliminated his position last week. 

“Lee Enterprises dropped the axe on my newspaper career today at 12:05 p.m,” Plemmons wrote on Facebook. “‘Restructuring and your position was eliminated’ is how they described it. My time with the newspaper totaled 27 years 10 months, couple that with 8 years with WEGO-AM 1410 and I had more than 35 years covering news and sports in Cabarrus County.”

Hundreds of people commented on his post, expressing gratitude for Plemmon’s community-focused coverage of education, local services and programs, local sports and his popular Friday Five column. Many were subscribers of the paper and lamented what this means for local news in Concord and Cabarrus County.

“This sort of thing should not be,” wrote Steve Harmon. “Thank you for all you have done in this role to make people aware of all that happens in the community and the significance of what happens for the shared life of the community—such a vital contribution to the common good that is diminished when news sources are downsized or eliminated.”

Andrew Phillips, who had been writing sports stories for the Independent Tribune, said that there’s “nobody left to cover anything.” 

“When we talk about how our society has become more and more isolated, I believe that a large part of that is that we know less and less about our communities. Watching the media slowly die only makes that isolation worse,” wrote Phillips . 

The county does have a newer independent publication, The Cabarrus Compass, which launched last year. Publisher Chris Miller did a terrific piece about his former colleague and what these further cuts mean for local news.

“I also worked alongside Plemmons for nearly two years during my time at The Independent Tribune. He was a talented reporter and editor, but he was also a mentor who helped me become a better journalist,” said Miller. “His departure is an enormous loss for Cabarrus County.”

Plemmons told Miller that Lee had cut several other positions at the paper over the past year and a half, including its only full-time news reporter and sports reporter.

“The company has always treated this like we are some little podunk,” Plemmons told Miller, highlighting the county’s population growth. “The people who make the decisions have no clue what’s here.”

Since last week’s announcement, Plemmons has stayed busy. He’s continuing to run Radio Free Cabarrus and 485 Sports, which broadcasts middle and high school games. One fan had an idea for how Plemmons could stay even busier: starting a Substack for high school football. 

G20 shuts out local and national journalists at Asheville events

The US Treasury Department denied credentials to AVL Watchdog, Mountain Xpress and individual reporters from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News for the G20 Finance Ministerial that wrapped up yesterday in Asheville. Watchdog reporter Peter Lewis wrote about the denials, saying they weren’t given any reason for them by Trump administration officials.

“The decision means The Watchdog was denied access to a major event that was announced as a global showcase for the Trump administration’s commitment to our region’s recovery after Tropical Storm Helene in 2024,” wrote Lewis.

Lewis said several other NC-based news organizations did receive credentials, including Blue Ridge Public Radio, WLOS, North State Journal and The Blue Ridge Times, which was founded by Tim Wigginton, a former communications director for the NC Republican party. 

The Associated Press, which was granted credentials, reported that NYT journalist Alan Rappeport, who’s been covering G20 meetings since 2017, was also shut out of the Ministerial. Another NYT reporter was given access. 

The National Press Club also condemned the Treasury Department’s moves to block certain journalists and media organizations from the event. 

“When government officials decide which journalists may enter the room, they begin to control which questions get asked, whose scrutiny they face and what the public gets to see and hear,” NPC wrote in a statement. “That should alarm every American, regardless of politics. A free press exists so the public can know what its government is doing, question those who wield its power and hold them accountable.”

Thank you Mark for all you've poured into local news and information and keeping Cabarrus County connected and informed. And thank you Peter for your coverage of press restrictions at the G20 and the impact this has on the public's right to know what its government is doing. We appreciate you both! 

Have something to share about your news and information organization? Send a note to catherine@nclocal.org.

 Available for republication 

✅ NC Local: The Trump administration wants to roll back the Roadless Rule, which protects more than 170,000 acres of public land in NC. 

Here’s what the change could mean for North Carolinians. 

✅ The Assembly: Hurricane Helene Washed His Wife Away From Their Mobile Home. Now New Residents Live on the Same Land.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network.

✅ Enlace Latino NC: Charlotte concentra casi uno de cada tres arrestos del ICE en Carolina del Norte, indica análisis de Siembra NC

✅ NC Health News: 10 key questions about the proposed WakeMed-Atrium deal 

✅ Carolina Public Press: Rival Helene recovery narratives compete as Asheville hosts G20 summit

✅ Inside Climate News: How North Carolina Wasted the Chance To Fix Hog Pollution

Bulletin Board

Jobs

📌 Development Director, NC Local (Remote in NC) 💰

📌 Membership Manager, NC Local (Remote in NC) 💰

📌 Alamance County Community Reporter, NC Local, Alamance County 💰

📌 Senior Enterprise Editor, The Assembly (Remote in NC)

📌 Due South Producer, WUNC, Chapel Hill & Durham 💰

📌 Broadcast Operations Assistant (temporary), WUNC, Triangle 💰
📌 Weekend PM Host (temporary), WUNC, Chapel Hill 💰

📌 Podcast Producer, WFDD, Winston-Salem

📌 Reporter, The Mountaineer, Waynesville 💰

📌 Editor, The Sylva Herald

📌 Reporter, The Gaston Gazette, USA Today, Gastonia

📌 Investigative Reporter, WRAL, Raleigh

📌 Story Desk Editor , WFMY News 2, Greensboro

📌 Product Manager, Membership Growth and Development, ProPublica (Remote)💰

📌 Sr. Weekend and Evening Audience Editor, USA Today (Remote)

📌 Advisory Programs Contractor, Lenfest (Remote) 💰

Resources, opportunities & events

🧰 C-SPAN's Road to the Capitol: Check out our recent Q&A with C-SPAN's Rachel Katz about a new partnership they have with NC Local and local news organizations across the state. They're offering free video coverage of US House, Senate and the gubernatorial races to local newsrooms. Use for your reporting, publish on your sites and take advantage of transcripts and pre-produced video clips. If you're interested, send a note to Rachel at rkatz@c-span.org. She'll schedule a short conversation with you to learn about your news organization, answer any questions and get you set up with their portal. 

📅 Ethical Reporting Saves Lives: In recognition of National Suicide Prevention Month . In recognition of National Suicide Prevention Month, the National Press Club Journalism Institute has partnered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to present “Ethical Reporting Saves Lives," a free webinar featuring guidance on responsible reporting on suicide and suicidal behavior. María de los Ángeles Corral, vice president of public relations for AFSP, and Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer for AFSP, will share information about the environmental factors that influence suicidal behavior and how journalists can report on suicide in a way that increases awareness without perpetuating harm. September 8, Noon ET.

📅 Press Play Durham: Press Play is a civic festival that convenes communities to build trust, nurture togetherness, and build a new kind of public square through story. Topics of discussion include: Who do you trust and why, sourcing habits, extractive journalism, engaging to enhance media literacy and more. We'll highlight what's working and what's changing across the media landscape while focusing heavily on video and innovation, including a screening of local shorts. October 3, 3:00-8:00 pm. Durham County Main Library, Free. Registration here.

📅 Covering Immigration with Care: A Mental Health Reporting Project Webinar. Behind every immigration headline are real people navigating displacement and the mental health challenges that often come with those experiences. Getting the facts right while handling deeply human stories with care is essential. Poynter offers this free, 90 minute webinar to help you better understand how to cover the mental health aspects of immigration. Learn how immigration experiences can affect mental health, how to approach vulnerable sources with care and how to connect individual stories to broader issues such as access to services, policy decisions and community support. October 21, Noon-1:30 pm.

📅 News Product Alliance Summit: This year's program is jam-packed with interactive workshops and masterclasses, inspiring lightning talks, and candid panel discussions on AI, audience strategy, and sustainable business models. Here's a snapshot of a few session led by practitioners from local and community newsrooms:

• The Baltimore Times will show how it's piloting a shared AI infrastructure with independent journalists and community organizations. 
• Documented will share how it rebuilt its English-first site in four languages for immigrant communities, and why translating it wouldn't have been enough. 
• And Block Club Chicago will walk attendees through the strategy behind raising subscription prices while keeping a 98.7% monthly retention rate.

That's it for this week. We'll end, once again, with another quote, from another Appalachian figure who just passed: Wendell Barry. This one seems especially relevant to what we do, but asks us to also consider doing things differently and planting seeds for the future.

“So, friends, every day do something that won't compute... Give your approval to all you cannot understand... Ask the questions that have no answers. Put your faith in two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years... Laugh. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.”

Thank you all for being here & know you are appreciated for all you do to support NC's news and information ecosystem.  — Catherine