NC Local News Intern Corps stories featured by news outlets across the state

The four student journalists of the inaugural NC Local News Intern Corps have produced stories featured in local news publications across the state of North Carolina.

The inaugural NC Local News Intern Corps has produced its first round of content for news outlets and audiences across the state of North Carolina.

Anton L. Delgado ’20
Khaaliq Van-Otoo ’22
Riley Davis
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

Funded by the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund and housed in Elon’s School of Communications, the NC Local News Workshop is supporting four student journalists this summer as they cover the impact of COVID-19 and other important stories across the state.

Here is some of the work the Intern Corps has produced so far:

  • Anton L. Delgado ’20 covered Black Lives Matter protests and Juneteenth celebrations across the state and was published by WPTF, WFAELa Noticia and The News & Observer.
  • Khaaliq Van-Otoo ’22 reported on the experience and impact of immigrants and white people as participants in Black Lives Matter protests for WFAE and the Greensboro News & Record.
  • Riley Davis’ reporting on the re-opening of state parks and the challenges facing staff at those parks was featured by the Greensboro News & Record and WFAE.
  • Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez told the story of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Latinx workers in a piece published by La Noticia, the Greensboro News & Record and EnlaceLatinoNC.

During the eight-week paid internship, the Intern Corps interns will receive professional experience producing stories for digital, social media, print and broadcast organizations. In turn, they will provide additional journalism capacity to news organizations, supporting news and information that respond to community needs and gaps. This includes public affairs coverage by and for Black and Latinx residents, rural communities, or people otherwise missing or missed by news coverage. The interns’ work is available at no cost to news outlets.

The Intern Corps is under the direction of Supervising Editor Susan Ladd, who also serves as an adjunct instructor in journalism at Elon.

The North Carolina Local News Workshop will champion new approaches to providing reliable, high-quality journalism and information for NC residents and offer a base of support for organizations and individuals working to reinvent and sustain local news.

The Workshop was established in mid-May with support from a $180,000 grant from the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund. The workshop is led by Melanie Sill, a former top editor and news executive at The News & Observer, Sacramento Bee and Southern California Public Radio /KPCC.