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Melanie Sill

@melaniesill.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.9K following 712 posts

Board chair, @NCLocal nonpartisan local news hub. Former top editor News & Observer, SacBee, KPCC/LAist. Posting on journalism's role in democracy and how people can get the information they need

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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Just when you thought predictive, pundit-driven election coverage couldn't get worse, it does. Forget coverage that challenges candidates on what they're doing for constituents or about problems voters are facing.
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Startling speech by a city council member after newsroom cuts at the Lexington, KY Herald Leader. Urge you to watch, listen and learn of the bond that a good newspaper can create without losing its independence. Owner: Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management kiesow.net/how-to-talk-... via kiesow.net
kiesow.net
How to talk about the local news crisis: We are all worse off.
Last week, McClatchy rolled out the latest round of destructive cuts to its local reporting staff. The cuts themselves are barely newsworthy within the industry at this point, though the futility of '...
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
All journalists need to read this terrific Bill Grueskin story about how the New York Times made multiple mistakes in defaming a college athlete. An NYT editor actually testified: “Yes, we got a fact wrong, but that doesn’t mean we did anything wrong before publishing the story.”
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17/09/2026
Trump, in North Carolina calls North Carolina "one of the worst" states "in the whole nation"
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Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The USPS can't be trusted anymore. Straight to the ballot box or polling place
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Unasked/unanswered in today's major media coverage: What are the US objectives in Iran? Are we at war? What do members of Congress say. What's the president's authority and limits? Questions asked early on, but dropped.
Screen shot of NBC News home page with headline, "Iran attacks American warships and base after U.S. sinks five Iranian tankers"
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Welcome to the worst hours of journalism each week, when politicians get on TV and spin things and reporters treat this as news. Cover what they're doing, not what they're saying.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A pattern in daily journalism is that big and obvious questions stop being asked in ongoing coverage: Where is the Secretary of State? What happened to Trump's promise to end this war before he even took office? What are the US objectives? Similar with Iran war, ICE, much more.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Terrific reporting from @wral.bsky.social on the UNC football investigation — as the high-paid GM steps down, Bill Belicheck's son and whole program under scrutiny
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Remember when the United States had a Congress?
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John Robinson @jrobin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
jfc, Google. When he renames America as the United States of Donald J. Trump, are you going to do that too?
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John Robinson @jrobin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Will @axios ever say, “Thanks for the call, Mr. President, but you’ve lied to me too many times. We’re not printing that.” Narrator: Apparently not. www.axios.com/2026/08/28/t...
axios.com
"That sucker is open": U.S. gains the upper hand in the battle for Hormuz
The U.S. has eroded Iran's main source of leverage.
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Paul Woolverton @paulwoolverton.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
North Carolina had a milestone on Saturday: Independent voters rose past the 40% share among registered voters. Even though 2 out of 5 voters are independent/unaffiliated, NC law prohibits independent voters from serving their state on the 5-member State Board of Elections. #ncpol #ncga
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Good accountability reporting from @nbcnews.com
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Nicholas Slayton @nslayton.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Lara Korte, who was just fired from Stars & Stripes, has been covering the relocation of personnel from Bahrain for months and did a great piece today on 1,300 Navy family members displaced from Bahrain who are stuck in limbo given the damage to the Bahrain base. www.stripes.com/branches/nav...
stripes.com
Navy families evacuated from Bahrain face ‘uncharted territory’ amid bureaucratic confusion
The evacuation has left families in limbo and forced military officials to improvise solutions for support programs.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Questions for the US leading news outlets and journalists: Is the United States at war? What are members of Conress saying and doing as the president issues threats against Iran, Oman and others? These questions were raised early and dropped. Accountability requires sticking with them.
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Gonna go with @kairyssdal.bsky.social on this one, but honestly, it’s a close call
Kai Ryssdal •
@kairyssdal.bsky.social
This is, bar none, the stupidest fuckung thing I've ever heard.
And the idea that there's nobody in the chain of command - civilian or military - with enough courage to say so is a disgrace.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 15/08/2026
We've got quite the story for you 🧵
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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Yeah, see, the thing is, a lot of them didn’t. Survive, that is.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12/08/2026
Prediction markets are not predictive and should not be covered as news

Kalshi Politics

@KalshiPolitics
TODAY: WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR NOMINEE ODDS:

🟦 Francesca Hong: 95%
🟦 David Crowley: 5%
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I don't care why the polls were off. I care that national political journalism still doesn't know how to cover voters — and, more broadly, what's happening in people's lives and grassroots politics that shows up in votes.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 09/08/2026
The complaints cite a ProPublica report detailing how CBS and Paramount have for years given FCC commissioners luxury gala tickets, which the commissioners accepted even as the FCC was reviewing or about to review major Paramount business decisions.
propublica.org
FCC Commissioners Face Ethics Complaints for Taking Luxury Gifts From Paramount
Citing a ProPublica report on Paramount providing luxury Kennedy Center gala tickets to FCC officials, the complaints note that commissioners accepted the gifts while the FCC was reviewing or about…
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 08/08/2026
President Trump wants to soften one of the strongest legal protections American workers have: the right to hold an employer accountable when retirement savings are mishandled. Here's what you need to know: propub.li/4g078bJ
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
One obvious lesson of NYT primaries coverage: The paper is more dug in than ever on horse race coverage, partisan labeling, and fixation on ideological differences as dysfunction. Read the Times for its investigative journalism: it does not know how to cover the electorate or grassroots issues
Screenshot of new york times home page: El-Sayed's Win in Michigan Sets up the Left's Biggest Test of the Fall"
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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Prisciliano Trejo Ricano came to the U.S. at 3yrs old. ICE took him this June. He was 29. He told his family he didn't feel right but ICE wouldn't give him medical attention. After a month, ICE finally moved him to a hospital Prisciliano died five days later enlacelatinonc.org/en/Young-Mex...
enlacelatinonc.org
A young Mexican man living in Durham died in ICE custody.
News in Spanish about politics, immigration and community issues for Latinos in North Carolina.
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Running out of body bags, using forklifts to transfer corpses into makeshift morgues, a mortician conducting 200 funerals in a month when he usually does 30, crematories running at double capacity… And these senators just want to memory-hole it all www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/n...
nytimes.com
‘We Ran Out of Space’: Bodies Pile Up as N.Y. Struggles to Bury Its Dead (Gift Article)
The coronavirus crisis is overwhelming New York’s system for burying the dead.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Fox news is the single biggest malign force in our public discourse in the past century, partly a symptom but certainly a major cause of destroying norms around news reporting as fact-based and nonpartisan
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John Robinson @jrobin.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Not the same. www.axios.com/2026/07/29/t...
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
My comment after reading this: hahahahaha. Would that the NYT had reported Meta's track record on "open" approaches, and its shoddy corporate behavior in an unregulated environment toward users and the public interest, along with other tech giants. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/t...
nytimes.com
Mark Zuckerberg Blasts Centralization of A.I. Power (Gift Article)
In an interview with The Times, Meta’s chief executive took aim at Anthropic and OpenAI, which have pushed to tightly control A.I. development, and said he supported “more openness.”
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Please don't eat this stuff. Admire the labels and enjoy the nostalgia.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Would be great if the press covering this explained the "why" these are considered war crimes. Many of us are sketchy on history knowledge, especially on norms and laws forged generations ago, and context helps
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Inspiring, awesome move by the owner of Eastern NC's Grady-White Boats: Sell the Company for $400 Million? He’s Giving It Away Instead. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/b...
nytimes.com
Sell the Company for $400 Million? He’s Giving It Away Instead. (Gift Article)
After his sole heir died, Eddie Smith, the owner of Grady-White Boats, looked for a way to pass on his legacy. He was inspired by Patagonia to pledge future profits to charity.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 23/07/2026
📣 Local investigative journalists! There are less than five days left until the deadline to apply to ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. Newsrooms from 26 states can apply. Check your eligibility and submit here by July 27 at midnight ET 👇
job-boards.greenhouse.io
Local Reporting Network Fellow
Remote, United States
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 23/07/2026
How do you know if the fruits and vegetables you buy at the grocery store come from farms where workers were harmed? Read this thread by our reporter @maxblau.bsky.social 🧵
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
"We believe it is hypocritical to celebrate the First Amendment in front of the man who relentlessly attacks it. We urge the WHCA to condemn the administration’s actions from the podium." -- 500+ veteran and former journalists, in advance of Friday's rescheduled dinner deadline.com/2026/07/trum...
deadline.com
Journalists Call On WHCA To "Forcefully Stand Up" To Trump At Dinner
A number of organizations are calling for the White House Correspondents' Association to make a statement about Trump's attacks on the media.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/07/2026
Veterans Affairs workers: Is your local VA hospital experiencing staffing and care issues? Reach out to ProPublica reporter @ericumansky.bsky.social 👇 ✉️ Email: eric.umansky@propublica.org 📱 Signal: Ericumansky.04
propublica.org
Is Your Veterans Affairs Hospital Short-Staffed? Have You Seen Setbacks in Care? Help ProPublica Investigate.
We want to understand the consequences of cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. If you have firsthand information about conditions at your local hospital, we want to hear from you.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Astonishing to me that with all the scrutiny of public education, Republican leaders in many states have turned over millions (tens, hundreds of millions) in public funding for private schools with no one watching out on behalf of parents, students or taxpayers (Also happening in NC) #ncpol
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Excited about a major grant that will help our @nclocal.bsky.social NC statewide news hub move from lean startup to lean growth company: We're adding reporting and tools for alerting people statewide to decisions and policy affecting us individually and as communities, thanks @theajp.bsky.social
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Verite News @veritenews.org · 13/07/2026
Thomas Chester, Civil War’s first Black war correspondent Writing under the pseudonym “Rollin,” Chester became the first and only Black correspondent during the Civil War for a major newspaper.
veritenews.org
Thomas Chester, Civil War’s first Black war correspondent
Writing under the pseudonym “Rollin,” Chester became the first and only Black correspondent during the Civil War for a major newspaper.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 07/07/2026
🚨 ATTN local journos: We're seeking reporters in 6 newsrooms — in 6 different states — to join our Local Reporting Network. Launched in 2018, our program aims to help create vital, investigative journalism in communities where such stories might otherwise not be done. 🧵👇
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
If you thought customer service was uneven before, add the ramped up use of AI (I'm looking at you OnTrac). If you ever get to a human things go fine, but systems are set up to make this nearly impossible.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
lol Threads banned the new Infowars. Silenced for TRUTH. Everybody go yell at them.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 03/07/2026
The U.S. is blessed with one of the most scientifically and technologically advanced health care systems in the world. And yet, when it comes to health outcomes among the world’s wealthiest countries, the U.S. ranks last. Read "Sick in a Hospital Town," a 5-part series:
projects.propublica.org
Sick in a Hospital Town, Part 1: The Business of Care
Welcome to Albany, Georgia, where one hospital dominates the political and economic landscape. The story of Phoebe Putney Memorial is the story of American health care.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 02/07/2026
Jack Smith: "I think we are facing an attack on the rule of law that is different in kind and scope to anything I've seen in my lifetime"
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Stark illustration of NYT political desk's devotion to polling and prediction (the odds) versus what issues Americans are struggling with and what we need from our national government (the stakes). Most national media do same. Local newsrooms should ask what stakeholders need and candidates offer
Screen shot of New York Times home page with four poll-based articles and a chart focused on US senate contests and Dems vs. GOP
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Katie King @kktranslation.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Thank you, Melanie. They could start by pointing out that Spain, led for the past eight years by a Socialist government, has the strongest economy in Europe.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
News reporting could do significant service by explaining what Democratic Socialist means (ideology, platform, issues and positions) Do journalism.
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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
As a Watergate historian, this might be the dumbest and worst take we’ve seen from JD Vance in a long time. And it’s also a complete misunderstanding of Nixon and Watergate.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
It's also war against the federal constitution. the president can't do with extortion what the constitution expressly forbids him to do legally. flatly unconstitutional and war on the constitution and the freedoms of the American people.
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Melanie Sill @melaniesill.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
On a First Amendment and civil liberties basis, this should be getting a lot more attention in mainstream national reports. Essentially the prosecutor's argument, and part of the ruling, attacked and punished people for ideology — not action. @knightcolumbia.org @1acommittee.bsky.social
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