As 2023 comes to a close, WHQR News Director Ben Schachtman sat down with his colleagues in the newsroom to look back at the work they've done over the last 12 months.
For Kelly Kenoyer, that’s meant digging deep into housing and homelessness — but also spearheading not one but two public engagement campaigns to help connect our newsroom to the real world — and inspire better reporting.
For Rachel Keith, that’s meant covering education and the politics at Cape Fear Community College and the New Hanover County school board — but also digging into the psychology of adverse childhood experiences, a theory that undergirds some really positive work being done to help our region’s most vulnerable students.
For Nikolai Mather, it’s meant taking WHQR’s coverage into rural areas around Wilmington — sometimes into news deserts where he’s the only reporter. But he’s no parachute journalist, and he’s been working hard to build relationships — not just grab a scoop and leave.
And for Camille Mojica, it’s meant looking more closely at what happens when children enter state-run systems for mental health or criminal justice — and running a weekly podcast that’s been taking listeners behind the scenes of the WHQR newsroom and the stories we’re working on.
