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After Nationwide Media Layoffs, What Is The News Landscape In NC?

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,
Laura Pellicer
Published March 7, 2019 at 11:11 AM EST
Credit Creative Commons / pxphere

Host Frank Stasio speaks with North Carolina news media leaders about the news landscape and impact of newsroom layoffs around the state.

This winter, waves of journalists across the country lost their jobs as major media organizations made significant cut backs. Among them, media giant Gannett cut an estimated 400 people, and The McClatchy Company offered voluntary buyouts to about 450 people. The mass layoffs follow years of staff cuts at newspapers and media outlets across the country. 

Host Frank Stasio speaks with North Carolina news media leaders about the news landscape and impact of newsroom layoffs around the state. Stasio is joined by Angie Newsome, executive director and editor of Carolina Public Press; Scott McLeod publisher and editor of Smoky Mountain News and Katie Wadington, news director of the Asheville Citizen-Times.

He also speaks with Penelope Muse Abernathy, the Knight Chair in journalism and digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and author of the 2018 report “The Expanding News Desert.”

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer