Our Stories
At Beacon Media, we focus on telling the stories that truly matter to our communities. Beacon Media is built around the people who are preserving and strengthening democracy in North Carolina communities. From healthcare and education to housing and justice, our stories are crafted to inform, inspire, and spark meaningful change. It is these community leaders and trusted messengers who will shift our collective narrative and show us what is possible — and then they are the ones who will make it a reality. We share their words and voices far and wide. That’s why all of our commentary is free to republish. We encourage you to use and share our work to help amplify the voices and issues that need attention across our state.
Read The Latest Stories
Shannon Moretz: Why my rural community needs a new community news site
Many rural counties across North Carolina have suffered a loss in the quantity and quality of community news. In Caswell County, Shannon Moretz is working to change that.
Melissa Castillo: In North Carolina fields, a ministry of tamales
An underground economy helps immigrants survive, sometimes with a little humanity. Can we learn from that to reform our immigration system so it recognizes reality? By Melissa Castillo Beacon Media It’s Wednesday afternoon in Sampson County, and I watch as Juana’s...
Opinion: A year after Helene, N.C. Christmas tree farms are rebounding
Hurricane Helene did a number on the five counties that make North Carolina the second-largest Christmas tree producing state. But today there is already a sense of optimism from local farmers.
Sam Grote: Duke Energy’s rate hike exposes a broken system
Duke Energy’s latest request to the state to increase our power bills even more exposes our broken regulatory system. Learn why it’s happening—and how you can fight back. By Sam Grote N.C. Business Impact Forum In October, Duke Energy told regulators and the public...
Gwen Frisbie-Fulton: On Black Friday, honoring the retail workers
As millions hunt for deals and fill their carts on Black Friday and during this holiday season, remember and honor the people who make it possible.
Graig Meyer: An Open Letter to an ICE Agent in a Mask
When federal immigration enforcement agents deployed to Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and other places around North Carolina, terrifying and haphazard arrests ensued. Graig Meyer has some questions for the people behind the masks.
Opinion: Has the campaign of fear against Latinos in North Carolina awoken a sleeping giant?
Brutal treatment and indiscriminate policing by federal law enforcement shown across social media has galvanized thousands of Latinos in North Carolina and beyond.
Stevie Brooks: As communities struggle with hunger, food is all around us
One effort shows that area farms can play a role in helping to feed people. Will that be enough with the current crisis in food assistance?
Two worlds: One snuck cigarettes as a teen. The other labored in NC’s tobacco fields.
Beacon Media’s Community Media Liaison Bri Brough, who is also a photographer, spent the day recently with Beacon Voice Yesenia Cuello and heard her story.
Preston Blakely: What wielding a vacuum has taught me about power
Cleaning and vacuuming taught the mayor of Fletcher, N.C., a small Western North Carolina town near Asheville, what a gavel never could about leadership and how to be a mayor.
A Rosh Hashanah Sermon: Revisiting Our Truths as an Act of Teshuvah
Let us question ourselves and what we think we know as an act of empathy, Rabbi Hannah Bender of Judea Reform synagogue argued in their Rosh Hashanah or New Year’s sermon in September.
Kimberly Jones: Access to a good education is a civil right. How do we plan to enforce it?
Deep cuts and layoffs to the U.S. Department of Education endanger our students and our democracy in North Carolina.
Democracy does, in fact, die in darkness
The end of an era at the Washington Post marks a turning point for media’s role in strengthening our democracy in North Carolina and beyond.