My name is Emily Ellis and I'm a freshman in UNC Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I grew up in Bahama (pronounced Buh-hay-muh), North Carolina, on a small horse farm. Growing up, my parents rarely allowed me to watch the evening news because of the graphic images and the war and horror stories often covered. We never got the paper, but as long as I can remember we had the internet. My dad always checked the news online in the morning before taking me to school. I didn't really start following the news until middle school, when I was required to do weekly reports on current events in two categories (political and science and technology) and to engage in "Lightning Round" discussions where we were given two minutes to give a rundown of one major news item. I checked online websites like Yahoo! and CNN, and also followed the web pages for local news sources like the News and Observer and WRAL. I also read Muse Magazine religiously, and occasionally read articles in the Wall Street Journal. I became even more engaged in following the news when I joined my high school's World Quest team (an academic quiz bowl equivalent that focused on national and international current events and issues). I changed my homepage to BBC's international news page, and began to click through headlines religiously. I also listened to NPR on the 45 minute drive home from high school once I had my own car. Now I have three separate RSS feeds on my browser toolbar, and frequently watch CNN. I also read the Daily Tar Heel, my campus newspaper, to get news about local events. I also get daily emails from Slate Magazine with its top ten news stories of the day. Last semester I also was required to take out a subscription to the NYT for a political science class, which has since run out, and this semester I am required to read the Wall Street Journal for an economics course.
My community in general gets news from a wide variety of sources. I think for the most part people follow the local TV stations for local news, and stick to larger stations like CNN, MSNBC and Fox News for national and international coverage. Many people also tune into NPR, but some of the music stations also give hourly news run downs, so I'm sure some people get their news that way (Mix 101.5 even covers WRAL's evening broadcast). Students do read the Daily Tar Heel, but one of the more unconventional news sources is Stall Stories, monthly fliers posted in the bathroom stalls. While some of them feature funny stories, they also list important dates throughout the month and sometimes have community announcements.
Bahama is only 15 minutes north of Durham, so most of its residents have internet (only dsl or satellite) and television (typically satellite). However, a lot of news about people who live in Bahama (gossip, you could say) is passed around by members of the community, or through the "grapevine." In fact, some of the biggest news in general travels this way. For example, when coyotes were rereleased in Bahama to help control the deer population, my family heard from a neighbor, who heard from another neighbor, who heard from another neighbor who had been fined for trying to kill the animals.
The biggest place for social gatherings in Bahama is probably the Ruritan club, which hosts semi-annual pancake breakfasts and brunswick stew dinners (they advertise via repurposed yard sale signs down the side of the road). The town also has an annual Christmas parade, which is announced typically through fliers, signs and word of mouth, although coverage has grown over the past few years. The town has one main road, which is home to the town's only gas station. On the gas station wall there is a bulletin board with community announcements, for-sale fliers and advertisements. Often the bulletin board boasts numerous fliers offering free or discounted kittens and puppies.
So news sources aren't limited where I'm from, but many people seem to find it easier to just call or chat to get their exceedingly local news. Not a lot happens in Bahama, but when something does, it's bound to be spread around.
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