DEAR BLACK PUBLISHERS/EDITORS....

Dear Publishers/Editors:

I hope that you are doing well, and that GOD is blessing you and your staffs in this new year.

As you well know, 2022 is expected to be yet another pivotal year in the ongoing struggles of the African - American community, and our state/nation as well. And as Black newspapers, we have a unique position in covering it all - from an African-American perspective. 

After many successful years writing for The Carolinian in Raleigh; The Wilmington Journal; The Carolina Peacemaker in Greensboro; The Winston-Salem Chronicle; The Carolina Times in Durham; Greater Diversity News in Wilmington; The County News in Mecklenburg County; and The Urban News in Asheville, I can honestly say that there is no Black reporter in the past 36 years who has covered North Carolina as I have.

       Add to that stories for The North Carolina Black Publishers Association, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, The Fayetteville Press, and New York’s Amsterdam News; in addition to awards from the NC NAACP and others for my coverage of special issues, I’d say no one writing for the Black Press today has the experience that I have.

Thanks to my special coverage in The Wilmington Journal and The Carolinian, for example, the Black Press of North Carolina was able to uncover critical evidence that led to the long awaited pardons of innocence for the Wilmington Ten in 2012.

Currently, I am covering statewide stories of interest to North Carolina’s African-American community for The Carolina Peacemaker, The County News and The Urban News. I write anywhere from two to three stories a week, and I meet deadlines starting at midnight Monday night.

I’d like to add YOUR Black newspaper that list.

My service is unique. Unlike a national wire service which may or may not do a story of statewide interest  to African-Americans, that’s ALL I do, my singular focus.This way, I compliment whatever local coverage you’re doing of your community.

In addition, if there is a special story I can do just for your market, I can and will, just say the word.

My service is designed to augment your local coverage to give your readers the statewide perspective on issues involving criminal and civil justice, voting rights, health care policy, civil rights, racial injustice, education, African-American achievement, government, etc.

Most of my stories will have headshots of the subjects written about, and be anywhere from 500 words or more. Of course, you can cut story length to fit your available space.

So what does my service cost? Depends on the package you get (there are no contracts). I charge $75.00 per story I farm out ( monthly papers get different pricing). You can choose to run two stories a week, or one story per week (or three if I write that many). Bottomline is at the end of the month, count how many stories you chose to run, times $75.00, and that’s your monthly fee for my service (unless you ask for a special story for your market, in which case it is $100.00 for that story).

I protect markets, so if there’s another Black newspaper publishing in yours, and you publish my stories, I WILL NOT do business with the other  Black newspaper! PERIOD! You just have to let me know who is in your market since I’m not there.

I send my stories out via email per your deadline. However, as a backup, I also post my stories for that week on my blog site that you can always go to in case you haven’t received  my stories via regular email. Just copy and paste the story(s) and drag the headshots.

My stories are always written in simple Word 97.

So that’s my pitch for 2022. I believe I have the track record and the reputation in our industry and beyond to assure you that I deliver. That’s what I’ve been doing for 36 years, and now I want to do it for YOU!

So seriously consider this offer. All I require is an email address to forward the weekly North Carolina-based African-American stories of current interest I write, to you or your editor, or the link to my blog containing those stories. Payment for the previous month’s stories is due by the first full week of the following month. If you need monthly invoices, that’s fine. Just let me know what stories you ran so you can be invoiced accurately.

And that’s it! Why shouldn’t African-Americans in North Carolina have their own up-to-date Black news service that gives them a statewide perspective on issues and events they should know about that could certainly affect them and their families?

Think about it, and let’s get started, TOGETHER, in February  2022!

        GOD BLESS!

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