TCB’s last issue: Reader reflections

Featured photo: Audience members listen during the Greensboro reverse town hall on Oct. 7. (photo by Carolyn de Berry)

A newspaper is nothing without its readers. Without them, we’re just writing and publishing stories for the void. For our last issue, we put a call out to our supporters to contribute their own thoughts about Triad City Beat and share the ways that this paper impacted them.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to write in and share what TCB meant to you.

It’s been an amazing 11 years.

Jermaine Exum

Triad City Beat was my source for knowing what was going on in the area and who was involved. The good things and also the other kinds of things. I could tell how much work went into every issue. It meant the world to me that Sayaka interviewed me when I announced ownership of Acme Comics (est 1983) after having worked there since 1996. She asked me different types of questions than anyone else had which led to a richer article. I hope the heart & soul of what made Triad City Beat special can come together again in a new form to serve this community once again. Thanks for everything TCB Team!

Clay Howard

I was in a unique position to watch TCB from literal Day One, and have seen Brian and crew navigate the world of a start-up and all its pitfalls from a close proximity. Kudos, and job well done to all of you. Perseverance, temerity, hard work… all demonstrated in large quantities.

Proud to know you. Onward and Upward.

Chris Cecil

My favorite edition of TCB was the “Dejoy Ride” cover. I’m a long time union activist in the Triad – not in the post office but adjacent in the same industry. NC is a very low-union density state so there’s not a lot of labor reporting here. I was pretty proud TCB made the “Greensboro” connection. Perhaps just as important, my good friend Rob Paquette (who died young and is no longer with us) designed the cover art. Seeing that cover reminds me of Rob and how happy I was he had made it to the big leagues as an artist.

Penny Schneck

Triad City Beat has always been an advocate for our local businesses. They have been a partner with our non-profit organization (Triad Local First) for many years and we are sad to see them stop publication. They have supported our small business owners and our message about how vital it is to work with local, independent merchants in order to maintain the unique character and local resilience we need.

Mia Malesovas

I always looked forward to reading the latest edition to learn about upcoming activities and potential outings. You will be sorely missed.

Carolyn Clarey

My brother Brian started this paper on a whim and was backed by talent and support. TCB means a lot to my family and we loved every word written. We’ll miss you TCB! Can’t wait to hear where you all end up!

Kristen Jeffers

I will never forget the February 11-15 2015 cover story that named me as one of the #GreensboroNow. I can say this now as it’s been ten years and my return home is imminent, that I thought I’d never be able to walk the streets the same way again.

But as I was reading back my words in that article and my August 2015 article on my first days away doing the work I loved in Kansas City, I realized that despite how much we wanted our activism now in those days, our activism sometimes comes later.

It comes in the ways you don’t expect and you don’t know it. And it’s still ongoing, but now, it’s swinging back to Greensboro for a bit to set up the next ten years.

Thank you for giving me some of my first solid bylines. None of the rest of the national press and bylines compare to any of my bylines in my hometown papers, andI’m so sad to see this one go.

Thanks for everything.

Anne R.

We moved to the Triad about 2 years ago and TCB was such a great resource for us to learn about the local events and activities happening in the communities around us. Thank you for helping us to feel connected to the new place we now call home! We’ll miss you.

Barbara Cassidy

I’ve been reading TCB for several years and, durn, you are so going to be missed! A lovely, thoughtful, left-leaning, in-depth reporting and responsive community paper that has kept me informed, aware and involved. Besides the online reporting, I really appreciated the in-person candidate forum in W-S as well as every kind and thoughtful response I received to an email.

I even won a couple of tickets from Brian to see Mark Normand at the Carolina Theater last year when I responded to his post. For all of that and more, I thank you. My heart goes out to Brian and his family after that devastating accident and I’m saddened that we, as a community, did not support you enough financially to continue. You’ve been a true asset to our community. We need you and I’m hoping you can somehow remain an active voice in the Triad. I wish you all well going forward.

Bonnie

I have such admiration for Sayaka – a first class reporter who doesn’t mince words on important news stories. Hope she finds a new publication that will appreciate having her on staff.

Andrew Young

TCB played an incredibly important role by providing in-depth stories about issues that people care about but rarely saw reviewed, reported on, or investigated by other media. It put officials and public figures on the record, too, and during Trump 45 and COVID, helped keep Democracy going.

Sandra Pell

I’ve followed Triad City Beat to get information on what is “really going on” in the Triad area. This became a critical source of information I could trust during the challenging times we all faced in 2020 due to pandemic and social injustices across our country. I became aware of local groups working to bring awareness to social injustice through live reporting from by Brian and Sayaka. I watched every LIVE report I could. While my health didn’t allow me to protest in person, I was able to support these groups financially and spiritually thanks to the reporting done by TCB. Triad City Beat provided me a much needed connection to the outside world during a very difficult time.

Vikki Vassar

Triad City Beat has done their best, and more, to cover local news stories and provide easily understandable voting guides every election. They will be sorely missed, as they were truly a great local resource. We love y’all.

Jonah Montgomery

TCB has been a critical resource for me as a community member who grew up in Greensboro. It has helped me develop a more balanced worldview and developed my passion for serving the community and becoming a local activist. Triad City Beat built a foundation of trustworthy, factual reporting that I have used to inform and organize others. I will deeply miss its wonderful writing staff and hope that Greensboro’s local journalism scene finds ways to keep the light alive!

Kareem Starks

Living in Greensboro, Triad City Beat was like an old friend you see out and about town. I don’t quite remember how we first met, but like people in the area, you just bump into each other at the coffee shop or bar or whatever and shoot the sh*t with. Keeping score on the good folks vs. the bastards and who’s up and who’s down.

Like a lot of people in the area, TCB leaving is the same as someone leaving town. The familiarity that makes it cozy also makes the heart yearn for new faces and adventures. Feels more like TCB just caught the next hot ticket out of town. Good luck, babe.

Anita Washington

My favorite TCB story is the one that showed how Keep Gate City Housed achieved a major victory by advocating for rental assistance and the right to counsel at City Hall. The paper showed me powerful stories that transform lives and inspired me to become a tenant organizer.

Valarie Snell

When my husband and I first moved to Greensboro in 2006, we were disappointed with the independent newspapers that were available. Then we saw the Triad City Beat in a news stand in 2014, and we thought we would take a look. The quality of the stories and information on local events has been invaluable. We have gotten used to seeing the paper version and web version. We will greatly miss TCB; you have been a beacon of hope and reason.

Ian Penny

Alt weeklies are a great counterbalance to an increasingly sanitized corporate mediasphere. TCB always had an eye for social justice issues and a heart for local residents. This paper will be sorely missed. Good luck on future endeavors.

Bill Horner III

Brian has always been a warrior, and the way he led his troops into the trenches so often for TCB’s readers was something many of us admired from afar. Too often, the noise of life makes us deaf to watershed moments. TCB‘s closure is one of them; it darkens a light on truth. I’m thankful to Brian for his work, for the way he mentored his staff, and for his unyielding commitment to truth and great journalism. This is a loss not just for TCB‘s readers, but for truth in the Triad and for our industry.

Eleni Harrison

TCB is/was my print version of NPR and will greatly be missed.

Jeri Rowe

TCB gave me as well as the rest of GSO an invaluable resource that was unafraid to dig into issues missed or disregarded by other local media as well as profile people and places that gave our city its verve and eclectic spice. TCB also provided young writers a place to hone their craft. And in our era where journalistic opportunities are vanishing at an alarming rate, TCB became incredibly crucial with each passing year. Plus, TCB showed all of us through grit and sheer determination what one journalist could do. He had a burning desire and a dream to provide readers an outlet that made them understand a bit better the world beyond their front door. Brian, our city says, “Thanks.”

Lisa Allen

TCB provided a great civic service in always giving a detailed account of candidates for all the elections. I seem to remember in the early days a reporter standing up for the lowly possum which was used in a New Year’s Eve Drop (which is no longer done as a result) and a good piece looking at the influence of HPU on the city. The latest pieces on the homeless man with the dog and the Hot Mess Express nonprofit really stuck with me. Thanks for everything!

Jason Heyman

TCB had the best election coverage hands down. They would give helpful insight to each candidate including their voting history, positions on important issues, their personal information and work history. No other paper covered elections so well. Their in-depth candidate biographies will be missed, along with all of their thorough reporting on local stories.