Solutions journalism secures arts council funding

The Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, comprising six news outlets and three community institutions in North Carolina, is working with local visual artists to translate its reporting into creative formats to engage new audiences. A $9,000 grant from Charlotte’s Arts & Science Council, for example, helped the collaborative produce a graphic novel (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-pandemc-stories-of-covid-19/list?title_no=538768&page=2) highlighting stories of the pandemic. Chris Rudisill, the collaborative's director, said the project opened up opportunities for journalists to collaborate with artists and “help bridge the gap between local news and the public.” Artist Wolly McNair said the project “is a game changer and hopefully will be something others use to model ways they can tell stories."