The Assembly publishes deep reporting on power and place in North Carolina.
The Assembly launched February 2021 with the audacious idea that we could tell ambitious, challenging stories about North Carolina, and build a sustainable business plan to support that work. We tell compelling and nuanced stories about our state, without fear or favor to any party or power structure. Key areas of coverage include politics, courts, higher education, culture, and accountability.
Over the last four years, we have hired a team of journalists across the state and given them the space to be ambitious and thoughtful. We’ve also hired editors with a wealth of experience and knowledge when it comes to the big issues of today. We seek to produce journalism that will alternately surprise, inform, outrage, and delight you. The common thread uniting our work is that it leaves you with a better understanding of the place you call home.
Need to reach us?
P.O. Box 96
Durham, NC 27702
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Our Business Model
We launched with financial backing from investors who believe in our mission, and are working to transition to a self-sustaining, reader-funded model in the near future. We are governed by a board of directors.
Everyone can read a small number of articles a month without a subscription. Our regional publications are also free, as is our flagship newsletter. A basic subscription gives you full access to all our latest stories, while a premium subscription includes our industry newsletters, access to events, and a discount at our store.
Our Philanthropic Partners
While The Assembly is a for-profit company, philanthropic support has been essential to helping us raise funds to support growth and expansion.
To date, philanthropic support has come from the Knight Growth Challenge Fund, Journalism Funding Partners, Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, the Carolina Beacon, the Greensboro Community Journalism Fund, and Report for America.
If you are interested in becoming a philanthropic partner, please contact COO Emily Dresslar at emily.dresslar@theassemblync.com.
The Assembly Network
Since its founding as a statewide news outlet, The Assembly has grown to encompass local teams across the state, including The Thread, The Dive, INDY, CityView, and Border Belt Independent. Our statewide and local teams work together to provide an essential, trusted news source for our state.
- In Wilmington, our bureau produces a weekly newsletter, The Dive, in collaboration with public radio station WHQR.
- Our Greensboro bureau produces its own weekly newsletter, The Thread, with support from the Greensboro Community Journalism Fund and Report for America.
- In the Triangle, we have partnered with INDY, an alt-weekly with a 40+ year history of producing hard-hitting local news.
- In Fayetteville, we have teamed up with CityView, a monthly magazine and daily news outlet covering the city and county.
- And in the southeast, we have partnered with the Border Belt Independent, which covers Bladen, Columbus, Robeson, and Scotland counties.
Our growing network allows us to funnel important regional stories to a statewide audience, translate statewide Assembly stories to the level where it matters most, and support a healthy news ecosystem in North Carolina. It’s a model we are looking to replicate in other parts of the state.
We also work with The Food Section, a James Beard Award-winning independent outlet covering food and drink across the American South, published by Hanna Raskin. For coverage of our delegation in Washington and federal policy, we have partnered with News of the United States, or NOTUS. And we work with WUNC’s The Broadside to produce audio stories on what’s happening in the heart of the American South.
Our Reach
Award winning reporting from The Assembly
Winner, 2024 Sunshine Award from the N.C. Open Government Coalition and the 2024 Media and the Law Award of Excellence from the N.C. Bar Association
Winner, 2023 and 2024 Duke University/Green-Rossiter Award for Distinguished Newspaper Work in Higher Education Reporting from the North Carolina Press Association
Winner, 2024 Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Award
News About Us
The Assembly Network Wins 36 State Journalism Awards
The Assembly Network has been recognized with 36 awards from the North Carolina Press Association this year.
Navigating an Uncertain Year at The Assembly
We know Assembly readers are a curious bunch, so we want to tell you what our economic reality looks like right now.
Our Partnership with WUNC’s The Broadside
Can’t get enough of The Assembly’s reporting? You can also hear our stories on WUNC’s The Broadside.