Listening to you, the communities we serve, is deep in the bones of our nonprofit newsroom here at Charlottesville Tomorrow.
As we’ve grown this organization with your support, we are furthering our commitment to not just rebuilding local news, but reimaging what it can do for central Virginia. This means that we are always working to understand how to better offer news and information — and other kinds of community connections and opportunities — that serve you, that help make our communities stronger.
That’s why I’m so excited to introduce you to Atlee Webber, our first community editor who joined the newsroom in April. When we were filling this role, Atlee stood out among many great candidates because of her experience working in communities and surveying, canvassing and researching their needs. She’s the kind of person who, when you are talking to her, you know that she is listening deeply. Her commitment to building community power and buy-in into all the organizations she has worked with shined through. I’m so honored that she has joined Charlottesville Tomorrow!
Over time, you’ll be seeing Atlee’s name on more things, including call-outs for your participation in our work, explanations of how we do journalism and updates about our organization.
And I hope that, if you are so inclined, you will sign up with her to talk about what you want in local news. I’ve had the honor of meeting over 200 community members in one-on-one meetings since I joined Charlottesville Tomorrow at the end of 2021 — and am so glad that Atlee is committed to continuing to hear from the community.
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Meet Charlottesville Tomorrow’s first community editor!
Atlee Webber wants to hear your thoughts about local news — how you use it, what you’re tired of, what you want more of. Schedule a time to chat with Atlee.
For now, in the spirit of listening, here’s a quick Q&A so you can get to know Atlee better.
What’s something that has surprised you about the communities of central Virginia?
What has surprised me is both professional and personal: how small of a town it is here and how interconnected it is, which is kind of a beautiful thing. You go get your hair cut and you’ll see someone that you met at a friend’s party the day before. And the hairdresser is actually their cousin, you know what I mean?
Living in Charlottesville is my first time spending a long time in a smaller city. I’ve lived mostly in larger cities like D.C. and Charleston, South Carolina, plus really big cities like London and Mexico City. Here, people are excited to see their neighbors at events and are going out looking for people they know. I find that familiarity comforting.
Everyone who works at Charlotteville Tomorrow has multiple touch points too — our reporter Erin O’Hare is part of the music and creative community, our chief sustainability officer Michaux Hood has generations of history in central Virginia. People are very plugged in.
You’ve already begun taking meetings with community members to hear what they want from local news. Have anything you’d like to share about what you have learned so far?
No one answered, “I don’t know what I want from local news.” You know? Most people have an idea of what has existed before and what was missing, from their perspective. And they aren’t really afraid to say, “This hasn’t served us. So we would like something better.”
My conversations and the ones you’ve had over the years tell us most people want local news that covers vulnerable communities and people of color better, whether they are part of those communities or not. I have heard that local news is too reactive, which is an issue across news media. The clickable story or the crazy thing happened — I’ve heard pushback to the idea that we need to all go cover it instead of putting our time into something that adds meaning and understanding.
So when you think about these folks that you’re talking to, what’s something you really want them to know about Charlottesville Tomorrow?
There is a recognition that Charlottesville Tomorrow is doing something different, and an appreciation for that work. That might be why people are willing to talk, you know? But it would be nice for them to know that a lot of our team has been here for a long time and is part of the communities we serve. Our leadership is very focused on not being reactionary and being careful and slow and building up methodically.
One person I spoke to said, “My only qualm is that you don’t publish enough.” And she also said, “But I would rather have two articles a week that are excellent than 20 that are like other coverage that we already have.” So that was affirming, right?
I’ve heard that from a lot of people too. And maybe we have to explain the resources it takes to do the work of providing local news and information, of getting it to folks who might otherwise not see it, and allowing more people to be part of the process.
I’m explaining to people that we are very intentional, that what gets published is not just what happens to come across our desks. And that we welcome and encourage them to communicate with us and explain not just what they expect to see in the news, but what information will improve their lives.
I told this community member I mentioned before that we try to be intentional with our resources, based on what will help create stronger communities, and that it was very nice to hear that they felt like our work is high quality. That’s important to us.
What’s something you want community members to know about you, as their community editor?
I’d like people to know that my experience is in human services and arts nonprofits, and I’m coming at my role in the newsroom from that perspective. I think that is unique and valuable in local news.
And I think that’s pretty rare in the news world, to have someone who comes from a service background in charge of making sure community members’ voices are heard in the newsroom. News media is usually a world in which you start as a reporter and then stay and become an editor or grow as a reporter.
Being part of Charlottesville Tomorrow, a nonprofit news organization, sounded cool to me because we’re thinking of information as a service. Reported stories and resource guides and events and all the other types of work we produce — I think that’s kind of a great thing to approach it from a community service perspective. So I’m here to help keep us service oriented and not be an organization that just churns out the news. I think the position of community editor itself is an important investment in being a newsroom that is responsive. And that’s what I hope to do. To listen and bring what people say back to the newsroom.
