Hitting a Milestone

In February, we turn five years old. Since launching in the heart of the pandemic, it’s been an unlikely journey for a small but ambitious news start-up.

The Assembly Network has gone from two unpaid editors commissioning stories and sending emails with hopes and prayers, to a 45-person team publishing more than 1,000 stories a year.

Today, we’re producing some of the best journalism in the state, about everything from politics and education to culture and health care. And in five different regions across North Carolina, we’re supporting local reporting teams doing the kind of city-level journalism that’s been hollowed out over the past decade.

Chances are, as a newsletter reader, you’re only aware of a portion of what we do. So, as we approach five years old, we’re working on telling our own story better.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll hear from different members of our team. They’ll share reporting that moved them, challenges they faced, and what’s inspiring them as they head into next year.

We want our journalism to leave you smarter and more curious about complicated things. We want to help you better understand your community and your state. We don’t pull punches, and we prioritize transparency and accountability. We also understand that not every mistake is a conspiracy, and that it’s not only the broken things that deserve coverage.

Our ambition is that regardless of your “team”—Republican or Democrat, establishment or activist, disruptor or institutionalist, academic or corporate—our work will help leave you better informed and better equipped to navigate your world.

We also know that we’ve got work to do to make sure it’s easy and seamless to access the award-winning journalism across our network.

So, over the next year, you’ll start to see some changes from us, particularly in our newsletters, our site design and accessibility, in our events—all designed to make it easier to see the breadth of our work and decide where you want to spend time and read more.

We’re glad to have you as a reader. And as we get ready for our next five years, we hope you’ll see the value of our work and step up to become a paid subscriber for the journey ahead as we set a goal of 200 new supporters by the end of the year.

With thanks,
Kyle