North Carolina Press Association

The Leland Town Council plans to move regularly scheduled closed sessions to the end of meetings after complaints about residents and town employees waiting through lengthy private discussions. At Monday’s agenda meeting, the council agreed to place regularly scheduled closed sessions at the end of Monday agenda meetings and, when needed, regular Thursday meetings.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Tuesday, August 25, 2026 9:22 am For most of its July meeting, a state commission drafting recommendations on teacher pay and reading instruction debated those issues in virtual rooms the public had no way to enter. At its two previous meetings, similar discussion took place in person, at tables that the public could access.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Tuesday, August 25, 2026 9:20 am Whether it’s a daughter doing homework with her boyfriend or an elected board discussing important matters, such activities occurring behind closed doors can be worrisome — although one official says this has been necessary in Mount Airy’s case.

Posted Friday, August 7, 2026 10:09 am It was 40 years ago this week that I wrote my first column for North Carolina newspapers. Still in journalism school at UNC-Chapel Hill, I was interning that summer at two outlets based in Nash County: the Spring Hope Enterprise, which covered the southern part of the county, and a startup called the Rocky Mount Record.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Monday, June 29, 2026 3:15 pm Julia Jones Daniels, the “professional volunteer” who led dozens of arts, history and museum groups across North Carolina, and who formed one half of Raleigh’s best known power couple while married to News & Observer publisher Frank Daniels Jr., died Saturday. She was 94.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Monday, June 1, 2026 11:04 am Columbus County has agreed to pay lawyer fees for The Assembly and Border Belt Independent, after a judge ruled that the county had failed to comply with North Carolina’s public records laws. The county had appealed Superior Court Judge Quintin McGee’s order in December that the county pay $74,557 to cover the cost of lawyers representing the news organizations.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Friday, May 22, 2026 10:20 am Graham’s city council has decided not to pursue one councilman’s suggestion of stripping the city’s legal advertising from The Alamance News and placing it in The (Burlington) Times-News, instead.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Friday, May 22, 2026 10:15 am Paxton Media Group, which purchased the Cherokee Scout and affiliated newspapers in March, has announced changes at several locations.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Friday, May 15, 2026 2:02 pm NCPA is introducing a new mobile advertising solution you can sell directly to your local advertisers—designed specifically for our members who want to compete and win in the mobile space without having to build new infrastructure. This will be your product to sell in your local market.

north carolina press association  |  supporting the public's right to know since 1873 Posted Friday, April 24, 2026 10:11 am We continue to underestimate the disdain, annoyance, even vitriol expressed by some Graham city councilmen aimed at their constituents, now including this newspaper. It’s clear the council resents its residents’ disagreement with their decision to relocate the Sesquicentennial Park, and now they’ve decided to widen their target of retaliatory punishment to this newspaper.