The Newsroom

Less than a year after he was appointed, Ray Funderburk was ousted from the Cape Fear Community College Board of Trustees. In his brief time on the board, he stepped out of line three times, starting with his vote against President Jim Morton's raise — the only dissenting vote. On this episode, a look at the trial to remove him and what we've learned in the aftermath.

If you missed WHQR's February 11 Black History event, you're in luck: We have the highlights for you in this episode of The Newsroom. Hear from great speakers about local history, and tune in next week for an episode on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion panel.

On this week's show: Tracey and Girard Newkirk on Genesis Block's work with minority entrepreneurs, WHQR's Grace Vitaglione on the maze of federal, state, and local disaster recovery efforts, and WECT's Michael Praats on the region's public-private partnerships.

On today’s show, we’re talking about the crucial and sometimes contentious relationship between journalists and public information officers. At stake: the ability of a free press to function — and of the public to stay informed about what their government is doing. So, no pressure.

On this episode, a closer look at WHQR’s One Small Step project — part of our longtime relationship with StoryCorps.Our past StoryCorps conversations have been between close friends and family members, but One Small Step was something different, and a little more challenging: putting two strangers with two very different political backgrounds together for a conversation.The goal? Have a civil conversation, explain where you’re coming from without trying to fight or win over the other person, and maybe connect a little as a human beingAs daunting as that might sound in our fraught political climate, the conversations were surprising, and educational, and sometimes even inspiring.

On today’s show, we’re bidding farewell to 2022 with a look back at the work WHQR's team of journalists did this year, and a look ahead at what’s in store for 2023. Host Benjamin Schachtman sits down with Camille Mojica, Grace Vitgalione, Kelly Kenoyer, and Rachel Keith.

Gentrification is washing over downtown Wilmington, accelerating as it moves North to South. On this week's episode of The Newsroom, we'll dig into the history that led us here, the data proving it's happening, and how it feels on the ground. We'll also hear about potential solutions- however complex those answers may be.

On this episode, Reporter Kelly Kenoyer brings us the first of two shows focused on gentrification in downtown Wilmington. This is an in-depth conversation with two guests: Cierra Washington and Qailinn Bowen of the Northside Food Co-op. Both are working hard to fulfill a decades-old promise to bring a grocery store to the Northside — a historically Black and underserved segment of the city. But they're watching the neighborhood change before their eyes, even as they work to unite it.

On this episode: Rachel Keith helps unpack the Republican's sweep of the New Hanover County Board of Education. The four GOP candidates will effectively be able to make policy in the coming years — what might that look like? Then, Kelly Kenoyer joins us to get Republican and Democratic political perspectives on the 2022 election from Chase Horton, who ran Michael Lee’s campaign, and Carter Jewell, who ran Amy Block DeLoach’s campaign.

On this episode, we unpack our town hall for state representative candidates from the Cape Fear region. We put questions from our newsroom — and the public — to eight candidates in four races, pushing them on tough topics like abortion, gun control, inflation, and more.