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Welcome to the 9th Street Journal

Photo by Katie Nelson

By BILL ADAIR

Welcome to The 9th Street Journal, a new website that will bring you the news of Durham.

The news and feature articles on our site are produced by five of the best journalism students at Duke. (How good are they? When I write to them, my emails begin “Dream Team!”) They’ve each taken one of our intro courses in newswriting or broadcast journalism and they have had internships at impressive places that include NBC News, Bloomberg, the News & Observer, the fact-checking websites PolitiFact and Chequeado, and the Charlotte Observer.

The 9th Street Journal is part classroom, part news organization. The students get class credit, but they’re also providing you with important news about what’s happening in the city. The mission of our organization is similar to the role of our DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy, to empower democracy and hold power accountable.   

Our reporters each have a beat. Daniela Flamini, Ben Leonard and Julianna Rennie cover city and county government; Hank Tucker is our public safety reporter; and Bill McCarthy reports on the Durham schools. Our staff photographer is Katie Nelson.

Our stories will supplement the coverage you see from other local news organizations such as the Durham Herald-Sun, WRAL, the Indy Week and other outlets. We will freely share our reporting with their newsrooms.

We chose the name because 9th Street represents the many faces of Durham. Walk the two blocks from Main Street to Markham Avenue you see much of what makes Durham fascinating. Locals mix with transplants on a street that manages to be historic – and new. There are still locally owned businesses such as The Regulator bookstore, while chains such as Subway and Panera are sprouting up.

Please email me with feedback on our coverage. And if you hear from a member of the dream team, I hope you’ll take the call.


– Bill Adair, Editor, Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism & Public Policy