What is the common thread of these stories?
- The increasing number of longer and more-difficult-to-pronounce names that minorities give their children — and how whites are picking up on the trend.
- A look, on the eve of the battleship Wisconsin’s opening as a tourist magnet, at the evolution of downtown Norfolk over the last 20 years.
- A portrait of Hampton Roads’ fast-growing Hispanic population and its influence on the area.
- A story on the increasing number of people who are moving to Virginia Beach under a federally subsidized housing program as low-income and public housing units in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake are destroyed.
For one, these stories originated in the landscape of Norfolk and Portsmouth. With a combined population of more than 300,000, those two cities represent the urban core of South Hampton Roads.
Second, all the stories were done by staff writer Katrice Franklin, who formerly covered Virginia Beach city government as a member of the paper’s Public Life Team.
Now, she’s wearing a new journalistic hat: urban life reporter. Indeed, the Norfolk-Portsmouth Team, headed by Battinto Batts Jr., has dubbed itself the Urban Life Team.
The team’s charge: Capture the complexities of the two-city urban core in a way that showcases issues and people of varied hues, political stripes, philosophical bents and the like.
Norfolk and Portsmouth, “although distinct in size, have a great deal in common: a limited tax base, a large poor population, an aging housing stock, schools facing challenges, federal grants to redevelop public housing, large minority populations, waterfront development and a movement to attract businesses, tourism and middle-class residents.
“The success of these cities in addressing their challenges will have an impact on the future of the entire region.”
That’s from the description of the urban life reporter’s job.
Newsroom editors sought someone who would be “equally comfortable mingling with community leaders and government officials and capable of asking tough questions” that go beyond the surface of an issue.
They handed the job last fall to Franklin, who has also been a general assignment and city government reporter in Suffolk during her five years at The Pilot.
Franklin said she pursued this position because she saw it as an opportunity “to expand our coverage of people from various communities that were previously underserved. It was a wonderful opportunity to give our communities a more detailed and accurate look at who lives in Hampton Roads.”
As the team’s chief reporter with an eye on diversity, Franklin’s in-depth work expands on that of veteran reporter and fellow team member Mike Knepler, who has written consistently about interracial efforts and neighborhood concerns.
“My goal,” Franklin said, “is to help us understand one another.”
At the same time, Franklin is “thrilled about the opportunity to spend time learning about aspects of our community that I didn’t know existed,” she said. “The people I have met and the stories they have told have been amazing.
“For instance, I’ve often been asked why so many black women go to salons regularly to get their hair done. It’s somewhat of a cultural difference. So I used Easter, one of the most popular times that black women visit salons, as an opportunity to tell the story about why.
“I remember getting several phone calls and e-mails from women who said they were glad that I had taken the time to explain to them why.”
Franklin heard many people talk about the growing number of unique and long names for African-American kids, so she decided to explore that phenomenon.
“Instead of guessing, I explored where the tradition came from, why it was important and explained that it’s no longer a cultural difference,” she said. “Many races are now using creative names.”
Creation of the urban life reporter’s job is consistent with The Pilot’s stated goal of ensuring diversity in its daily coverage. In the narrowest sense, that means taking pains to see that minorities and women play a role in our coverage. In a much broader sense, it means diversity of age, thought, religion, politics — you name it.
In short, the goal is to better reflect the community by running more stories on people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
“This is not something that I alone am working toward,” Franklin points out. “These are two of the main goals for the team I am a part of and the rest of the newspaper staff.”
