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
This crisis is also an opportunity
In North Carolina, we are organizing the trusted messengers we need to preserve democracy one storyteller and community at a time.
Dalton George: My personal affordable housing crisis
A young renter — who is also a member of the Boone Town Council — reflects on his and North Carolina’s affordable housing crisis. By Dalton George Beacon Media Downtown Boone, North Carolina in the summer of 2023. Photo by Amanda Underwood. It took a...
Stevie Brooks: How we turned a protest into our version of a church
A rally held in protest of federal actions, courtesy of Stevie Brooks. Last month, the leader of a protest in Shelby gathered the community and conquered fears and critics. By Stevie Brooks Beacon Media When I got home the night of the big protest I...
Jeremy Markovich: There is no such thing as a Durham accent
People are all up in arms about the North Carolina accents from the latest season of “The White Lotus.” So where exactly did they come from? By Jeremy Markovich Beacon Media Jason Isaacs with Morgana O'Reilly on Season 3 of "The White Lotus." Photograph by Fabio...
Rev. C.J. Brinson: Remembering activist Fannie Lou Hamer can show us the way forward
Greensboro pastor C.J. Brinson says that attacks on marginalized communities should not make anyone despair or tune out. By C.J. Brinson Beacon Media Fannie Lou Hamer, American civil rights leader, in 1964. Credit: Ken Thompson Collection, Global Ministries, The...
Rose Hoban: Amid flu deaths in N.C., warning signs already for next year
The Trump administration’s withdrawal from meetings that establish the flu virus has experts worried.
Raven MacFarlane-Bradbrook: We need Medicaid more than billionaires need tax cuts
Republicans in Congress want to gut Medicaid, denying life-saving health care for regular families to cut taxes for billionaires.
Rose Hoban: Will the kind of research that saved my life still be funded in the future?
Rose Hoban, the editor of N.C. Health News, reacts to recent changes to federal healthcare budgets.
Michael Chameides: Small businesses, the engines of rural economies, need a fair tax system
Tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-rich hurt working people, Michael Chameides of the Rural Democracy Initiative argues.
Dalton George: How the Hellbender unites North Carolina’s mountains
This salamander and the federal Act that protects it shows how government can protect the things we all love.
Gwen Frisbie-Fulton: It’s been time for Southern unions
Amazon worker’s efforts in Garner, N.C., will help workers across the entire state and South.
Jacob Brooks: Mark Robinson has something to teach all of us
As former N.C. Lt Gov. Mark Robinson exits public life, Jacob Brooks reflects on the scandal-plagued former politician.
The Rev. C.J. Brinson: The Christian right does not know Jesus
Pastor C.J. Brinson takes on how President Donald Trump and his supporters have used religion in the president’s first days in office.