Our next chapter begins

We know we have been quiet for a while.

It was done deliberately.

We have spent that time thinking a lot about mission, about community and about journalism.

We don’t have to tell you that the last item on that list has changed over the years — so much so that it is often unrecognizable.

There are many reasons why so many once-trusted mediums have lost their way, their readership, and their mojo.

Journalism used to be about chronicling the daily bits of life in a community — the mundane and the heartwarming as well as the shocking and the scandalous.

Local newspapers sparked conversations around the watercooler and called communities to action.

But today, we are all barraged by a flood of information.

It comes in tidal waves and trickles with every ding of a cell phone or download of the latest batch of email. And let’s not forget social media’s addictive grip.

We don’t have to wait to know anymore — and so, sometimes, we just can’t take in or process all the information that passes through our hands. We drown, and we don’t always have time to sift through and figure out what is true and what is garbage.

So, we tune out.

And that is dangerous.

We know just how dangerous it is because we have heard it from you — hundreds and hundreds of you who have shared with us, over these many months, grave concerns about where we are as a community.

Inside local schools and the district’s Central Office.

Inside Goldsboro City Hall.

Inside the Wayne County Courthouse.

In some of the city’s neighborhoods.

The stories your neighbors have shared about the dysfunction they witness on a daily basis are shocking.

We have been listening — and investigating.

Luckily, not everything shared with us is doom and gloom.

It turns out, this community is still full of good news, heartwarming stories and triumphs and possibilities.

But what it needs now is what it used to have — a media source that shares all of the above.

It needs someone to provide the big picture and, most importantly, one that watches those who are charged with setting its direction for the future and holds them accountable.

The truth is, none of us have been watching closely enough, and there have been some shocking developments in the last 12 months concerning local governments and our schools.

And most of us don’t realize how critical a juncture we are at because we are still reeling over the avalanches of worries and bad decisions coming from the ineptitude in our federal government.

But we are, indeed, at a tipping point here in Wayne County — a significant one.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it.

As one reader put it, “We need help.”

Well, help is on the way.

Changing this country and fixing it for our children and grandchildren is not about who we put it in the White House.

In fact, the decisions that have the most significant impact every day on your family and your future start in that courthouse on William Street or in the council chambers and school board meeting room just a few streets away.

And if you are not in Goldsboro, those village governments you trust to keep an eye on your tax dollars and to set the direction of your community, well they need your attention, too.

Their bad decisions can change your town’s fortunes with one misguided or good-old-boy vote.

And while we have shown you some pretty scary stuff over the last few years, there is oh so much more.

It is not about views, clicks, or circulation.

It is about being that watchdog — that voice this community so desperately needs.

We know you want us to do more of it.

We know you will continue to support us, as you have since Day One.

But this community deserves more than we have given you.

It needs a place where the tough questions are asked and where the big issues are tackled fairly and impartially. And while we have proven to you that we can do just that — and that together, your voices and our reporting can make real change — we haven’t done it enough.

Not nearly enough.

So now we come to a crossroads, a decision that is not easy to make.

Does this community want to have a watchdog and a voice? Do we want to be able to celebrate what is working, to change what’s wrong and to build a better future for our children and grandchildren?

From what we have heard as we asked those questions across the community over the last several weeks, the answer to all of the above is a resounding “yes.”

Well, we are ready to take the chance to give you a vehicle to make that happen.

New Old North will no longer be just a website, Facebook page and Instagram account.

It will soon be a regularly published newspaper.

We have so many stories to share with you — pieces we feel are essential to this community at the critical moment we find ourselves in.

In the coming weeks, you will see our first edition. That is how our journey will begin.

We want you to get a taste of the kind of print journalism we are talking about — and give you an opportunity to provide feedback.

Later this year, we will take what we learn from Edition #1 and begin producing a regularly published product. So, keep an eye out as we reveal where to pick one up, how to subscribe, and when our uninterrupted production cycle will begin.

That’s not all.

Our website will see a major upgrade soon as well.

But even though our products are getting a new look, our mission will stay the same.

We will tackle big issues, real problems and hold your leaders accountable.

We will ask the questions and give you back your voice — providing a forum for you, the reader, to weigh in.

We will talk about the real concerns and show you how daily decisions and hidden agendas influence the votes you see and skew the propaganda that you are fed every day via press releases from people who work for the boards they are “covering.”

We will request records, spark questions, and demand accountability.

But what we won’t do is spend time on the circus acts that are meant to capture your attention while powerful forces and back-scratching dwindle away this community’s prospects for a bright future.

We will keep an eye on those public entities that are making decisions about your children’s education and your money. We will show you where to watch to see what is really going on and who is pulling the puppet strings. We will tell you all about the bad actors and how they got — and have retained — their positions.

There are pretenders out there. We have been watching them for months and months.

It is time to call them out before they do any more damage.

We think you are ready for that level of work.

You have told us our community needs it.

We are committed to making sure you see it.

But don’t think all you will read in our newspaper will be negative.

There is a lot to celebrate here, too, and in every edition, longform features about everything from non-profits and the arts to local heroes will appear as well.

And yes, we will also still publish our magazine products throughout the year — including “Best of the Boot.”

All of that is what you should expect from any real newspaper of record in a community. And we are committed to that responsibility.

So yes, we know we have been quiet.

And yes, it was by design.

This is a big decision for us — a real risk — and we needed to make sure we could make this work and that you really wanted it before we made the commitment.

If we’re being honest, it was not an easy call. Our news operation has, quite successfully thanks to you, operated exclusively online for the last four years.

But we have always said that in order to move this community forward, we need bold-thinking risk-takers who are willing to hold themselves — and their neighbors — accountable. We need to “go big” as a county so we can realize the very best version of this incredible slice of Eastern North Carolina we call home.

It’s time we took our own advice.

There will be growing pains as we build this together.

We will have to trust each other.

We know some of you are spooked about media — local, state and national.

We know you are not always sure who really has this community’s best interests at heart.

But we can tell you this: We love this community, warts and all.

We see its potential and have for decades.

We think the future of journalism is local — that our backyards are the best place to start to fix the mess that has been made when we left the big decisions in the hands of corporate stooges, national powerbrokers, and locals who got to where they are because of who they know (or are related to) and not because of their qualifications.

We the people can get our country back and fix what all of us know is not working.

But we have to start at home, where our hearts are.

So, if you want to be part of that solution — and you want to get your voice back — be brave and take a stand with us by continuing to send us your news tips.

And if you know a feel-good story that deserves attention, send us those details, too.

We don’t have to be afraid to speak out, to speak up and to demand better.

Not anymore.

Wayne County belongs to all of us — not the handful of people with fancy titles and “power” that can be taken away as easily as it was granted.

So, we can sit back, or we can make a difference in this community.

We have made our decision.

Join us and let’s make it happen together.