Our newsroom is changing. Here’s how you can help us cover homelessness in Myrtle Beach
Dear Grand Strand:
My grandmother was my first journalism teacher. She taught me the importance of being honest and how a story should always be rooted in truth. Curiosity, she said, makes the adventure worthwhile and people are wonders of the world, although individually different. Words, too, are also things. Cherish them.
These simple, yet profound lessons shaped my values as a journalist and guide me as I settle in as your neighbor and the new senior editor/general manager of The Sun News. I am overjoyed to be here.
See, here’s the thing: My grandmother, Shellie, who you’ll come to know, taught me those lessons from her front porch in Simpsonville, South Carolina. It’s about four hours north of the Grand Strand and is where I spent most of my summer and Christmas vacations visiting my dad and his side of the family.
It was during those summer vacations in the late 90s and early 2000s that I got a chance to visit Myrtle Beach for our annual Labor Day trip. It was in South Carolina that I learned that tea comes sweet when you order it and red dirt is pretty tough to get out of white shoes. It’s also where I learned that long sleeves are the best attire while gardening under the roasting sun.
These were revelations to a kid from Los Angeles. Los Angeles in the 1990s is where my grandmother and mother tried to shelter me from violence on both sides of the law, dressing me in pastels and plaids to keep the gangs and police at bay in our South-Central neighborhood, and to protect my sensitive disposition. But they also believed that education was important and created an opportunity to see the world and to hopefully help those along the way.
That is partly why I got into journalism. Rather, journalism found me, and it has also educated me, about people and cultures and how governments do and do not work. Since my time as an undergraduate at Grambling State University in Louisiana, journalism has been the perfect vehicle to combine my love of language and people, because without either there is no story. Journalism has taken me from the college campus to newsrooms in Lexington, Kentucky; Chicago, Cleveland, and, most recently, New York.
There is no better time to be a journalist, and I am grateful to be able to lead an expanded newsroom that believes in the wonder that storytellers hold. I’ve noticed that Myrtle Beach can be quite the news town, and with a newsroom of our size sometimes the pace requires us to be nimble and collaborative. I’ve uttered the phrase “Teamwork makes the dream work” more than once in the newsroom, and my hope is that it begins to spread.
In the past three months, I have spoken to many residents either over the phone or through email, and have repeatedly heard your belief that proper and accurate information is deeply important. At The Sun News, we believe the same. We will provide that information through accountability and enterprise journalism, by covering breaking news in the Grand Strand’s neighborhoods, all while lifting the voices of the unheard.
We need your help in leading that charge. Let me tell you briefly what The Sun News is doing to expand its coverage and how you may help further that mission.
Over the summer, in the throes of the pandemic, we hired three reporters for newly created positions: to help with breaking news, to expand our community journalism and to add a presence in Georgetown County, a large region that we know is deeply important to our readers.
A fourth new reporter is here thanks to your generosity. Mary Norkol, whose position is funded through your donations and a grant, is writing about livability, housing and homeless issues in and around the Grand Strand. If you haven’t already, take a look at one of her most recent longform stories that was published Thursday afternoon and will appear on the front page of Sunday’s paper. It’s an example of just some of the stories we’re attempting to tell.
Although I have yet to meet many of you, those I have spoken with have told me how important it is to have a strong local newspaper that provides what our communities need. I’ve also learned that education, environment, taxes, nature, health, openings and closings, events, attractions, weather, cost of living and quality of life are just some of the topics Grand Strand residents care about.
It’s been quite the year. One of profound sadness, deep loss, racial and political reckoning and, too often, mystery and fear. The pandemic has revealed just how fragile some of our communities and institutions are.
In journalism, a number of local news publications have announced layoffs or shuttered completely. The loss of advertising dollars spent in local media outlets, accelerated by the pandemic, has hurt our business.
So, here’s my neighborly ask of you: We are launching a new fundraising effort dedicated to reporting on how to make our county affordable for residents. From now through the January, we are hoping to raise $30,000 to support this effort.
We’re asking you to make a tax-deductible gift to help.
This initiative will provide news coverage and/or investigative reporting, above and beyond routine coverage and operations, intended to inform, explain, and educate the public regarding affordable housing and homelessness, particularly as it relates to ongoing development in Myrtle Beach.
The pandemic has exacerbated the needs of those who were already struggling with housing and food insecurities. It has forced those who were once financially stable to find creative ways to meet their needs.
If you’re not able to currently give, I understand. We appreciate your support, whether that’s through a subscription, a donation or reading and sharing our work.
If you prefer to send a check, you can do that, too. Please make it out to the Local Media Foundation and write “The Sun News” in the notes field. If you include your email address, you will receive a tax donation letter.
The check should be mailed to: Local Media Foundation, PO Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689-5015. If you have any problems or questions, contact me at jmadden@thesunnews.com or 843-626-0212.
Thank you and Teamwork makes the dream work.
Your neighbor,
Justin
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 2:30 PM.