With a hectic 2019 behind us, the QCity Metro team is now rolling out plans for the year ahead.
On Tuesday we launched a new website — our second redesign since our original site was unveiled 11 years ago.
The new site is a testament to our strong commitment to keep pace with the ever-changing needs of our readers and advertisers. We hope you will like it.
We’ll continue to make changes and upgrades based on your feedback, so drop us a line.
Here are some other things we’ve got popping for the new year:
Events
On Feb. 20, QCity Metro will host a community discussion with author David Zucchino, who has written a book titled “Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 And The Rise of White Supremacy.” It’s a spellbinding narrative that explores a little-known chapter in North Carolina’s racial history.
Zucchino, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who writes for the New York Times and others, constructed the book using contemporary newspaper accounts, diaries, letters and official communications. We invited him to Charlotte to talk about how events along the North Carolina coast 122 years ago still play out in our national dialogue – an apt discussion as we enter this key election year.
Mark your calendars for Feb. 20 and plan to attend. (Scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church-West.)
Historic West End
Powered by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, QCity Metro will work with westside residents and stakeholders to expand media coverage in one of Charlotte’s most rapidly changing communities. That work was begun in 2019 and will accelerate in the coming weeks.
As part of that effort, we’ll launch a newsletter for residents and business owners along the Beatties Ford Road corridor, a.k.a. Historic West End. You can sign up here to get it.
We also will continue to meet over the coming weeks with westside groups and residents who are willing to help us shape this effort. If that sounds like you, email us at publisher@qcitymetro.com. We’d love to attend your meetings to share our ideas and to hear your suggestions.
Black Business
We closed 2019 with our largest reader survey ever. About 700 of you took time to share your thoughts and some key demographic information. We now will use that data to help shape our coverage in 2020 and beyond.
One key finding: Our readers want more content about entrepreneurship and Black-owned businesses in Charlotte. With the launch of our new website, you’ll find a redesigned business directory. We’ll be working in the coming days to expand that directory and to identify Black-owned businesses. Also this year, we hope to host some learning opportunities for local entrepreneurs and those who aspire.
We’ll also launch a newsletter focused on Black entrepreneurship. You can sign up here.
Behind the Scene
The QCity Metro team is constantly looking to provide our readers with better and expanded content. It’s in our DNA. We also are part of a much bigger effort to address what some consider to be a national crisis – the shrinking availability of local news in America.
Whether it’s meeting with business coaches at UNC Chapel Hill or attending industry conferences to sharpen our journalism skills, QCity Metro editors are committed to providing our readers with the news and information we know you need and want. It’s a heavy lift, and we can’t do it alone.
If you believe in our mission, consider joining our Press Club. Your financial support helps nourish the roots of Black media.
