The Granite Beat

How Civic Documenters empower communities and strengthen local news coverage

On this episode of “The Granite Beat,” Julie Hart and Adam Drapcho talk with a group who came together to bolster local news coverage in New Hampshire. Justin Silverman of the New England First Amendment Coalition, Melanie Plenda of the Granite State News Collaborative and Laura Simoes of the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications are partners in the Civic Documenters program, helping train community members to participate in reporting on local government. CivDoc, as the program is called, was first piloted in the Monadnock Region, and is currently expanding in the Lakes Region.
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter.

Dartmouth junior shines: Beatrice Burack's skiing series captivates New Hampshire

Beatrice Burack, a junior at Dartmouth College, has been writing articles seen by readers across the state. After interning with the New Hampshire Bulletin, Burack wrote a five-part series about skiing in New Hampshire, from how it was once the capital of alpine skiing in North America to the present state of skiing in low-snow winters as well as a peek into what the future might bring.
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter.

Creating coverage: How Melanie Plenda and Carol Robidoux came together to bring news to Nashua

On this episode of Granite Beat, hosts Julie Hart and Adam Drapcho talk with Melanie Plenda, executive director of the Granite State News Collaborative, and Carol Robidoux, founder and editor of Manchester Ink Link and Nashua Ink Link, New Hampshire's newest outlet, created with the help of the collaborative.
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter.

Granite Beat: Anna Brown and Mike Dunbar of Citizens Count on empowering voters

On this episode  of Granite Beat, Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart talk with Anna Brown, executive director, and Mike Dunbar, content editor, for Citizens Count, a nonpartisan nonprofit organized to help Granite Staters make the most of their voting rights. They also host a podcast in the Granite State News Collaborative family, $100 Plus Mileage.
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter.

Redefining education: How the 306 Project explores competency-based learning in N.H.

On this episode of Granite Beat, Julie Hirshan Hart and Adam Drapcho talk with Phil Kincaid, for several decades an editor at different New Hampshire news outlets and former executive director of the New Hampshire Press Association, and Kelly Burch, an accomplished freelancer whose work has been featured in many national publications. This editor/reporter team is behind a Granite State News Collaborative reporting series called The 306 Project, which is tracking an effort to reform education in New Hampshire. 
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter.

Lauren Chooljian’s Journalism Journey and Latest Exposé Shedding Light on Sexual Assault Claims

On this episode of Granite Beat, Lauren Chooljian, a reporter and producer for New Hampshire Public Radio's document team is a New Hampshire native and graduate of St. Anselm College. Yet she had to stretch her wings a bit after St. A's and spent several years in Chicago with WBEZ. Back in New Hampshire and at NH PR, she caught wind of a bombshell of a story, which earlier this year was turned into a podcast called the 13th step. Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart talk with her about her journalism journey and her most recent story.
 
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter.

Mike Cote on journalism and the “art of a column”

Readers of Granite State newspapers will likely recognize the name of Mike Cote  as an editor with the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he worked for 11 years. Earlier this year, though, he made a career shift. He left the daily newspaper life for that of monthly periodicals so he could take the role of New Hampshire editor for Yankee Publishing, where he leads the teams behind New Hampshire Magazine and the New Hampshire Business Review. 
 
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter. 

Boston Globe Reporter, Steven Porter Launches Granite Memo, a New Hampshire Bureau

Stephen Porter, one of the two reporters, given the historic assignment of launching a New Hampshire Bureau for the Boston Globe at the beginning of this year, comes on to share his story being in journalism and his insight on the changes within technology and social media.
 
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter. 

Laconia Daily Sun News Reporter Catherine Makes a Splash in Her First Year, Investigating the Laconia School District

Catherine McLaughlin has just wrapped up her first year as a full time reporter. She started at Laconia Daily Sun immediately after graduating from college. Her first year ended with an investigation into a raft of departures from the Laconia School District. Co-host Julie Hart was also in collaboration with Catherine in editing the story giving Granite Beat twice the inside look. 
The Granite Beat, is a project of The Laconia Daily Sun in partnership with The Granite State News Collaborative, of which Laconia is a partner, and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. Each week hosts Adam Drapcho and Julie Hart explore with local reporters how they got some of the most impactful stories in our state and why they matter. 

Following the Story: Micheal Kitch and The Past Thirty Years Following a Suit on Children’ Education

Reporters Julie Hart and Adam Drapcho talk with Michael Kitch. A historian and a writer, and for many years was the senior reporter for the Laconia Daily Sun, making the happenings of Laconia City Hall as transparent as possible for our readers. Lately, he's been writing for the New Hampshire Business Review, notably covering what might be one of the most important legal questions in the state's history. That question is, how much should the state be contributing to each child's public education?