Alicia Bell

Community Organizer

News Voices: North Carolina - Free Press project


1. When we think about media literacy, we often start with what media consumers need to do. But what advice would you give on the other side of the process, to journalists, about covering Charlotte in a way that community members appreciate?

Recognizing that wherever you are reporting you are part of that community is really important. That you’re not this kind of separate isolated person or organization that is overseeing a community.

2. After all your organization’s conversations in Charlotte, what key issue still seems to need a solution here?

What’s called ‘the new Charlotte’ needs to solve social inequity…. Social inequity is huge. It covers a lot of different issues in Charlotte and across the country. It impacts a lot of different people. Because of that, there can’t be one person or one group of people who’s working to solve and shift social inequity. It has to be a lot of different people.

3. How can journalists and citizens connect with each other?

North Carolina people are doing incredible work. We’re wanting to bring together people and journalists who are using really interesting ways to connect with community and have them do maybe a guest blog or a call and share that information with people, so that the community can connect with them, build with them. We want to lift up the different kinds of work that folks are doing.