On Background: Demystify Local News

Ep 11: Showing the local color of Whatcom and Skagit counties

Stories in CDN’s living section focus on the people who live in Whatcom and Skagit counties and make Northwest Washington unique. Lifestyle editor Cocoa Laney often highlights old traditions of towns and local makers or artisans, but her section also tells you where to find the best karaoke and how to find community. In the final episode of season one of “On Background,” listeners will learn how Cocoa brings the local color into Cascadia Daily News.

Ep 10: Keeping young athletes in the paper

Most local and regional news organizations don’t cover high school sports like they used to — but Cascadia Daily News strives to keep young athletes in Whatcom and Skagit counties in the paper. In this episode of “On Background,” listeners will learn how sports editor Nick Zeller-Singh and staff photographer Andy Bronson cover prep sports in Northwest Washington. Andy also ranks the best high school gyms for photography.

Ep 9: A different flavor of storytelling — the impact of CDN's visual journalists

How do visuals help tell a story? In this episode of “On Background,” CDN visual journalists Finn Wendt and Santiago Ochoa talk about how photography and video elevate news, sports and living stories in Cascadia Daily News. Listeners will learn how visual journalists collaborate with reporters and why it's important to put community faces in the paper.

Ep 8: Checking the agenda — how CDN covers 14 school districts

Whatcom and Skagit counties are home to 14 public school districts, and CDN’s Charlotte Alden keeps up with all of them in addition to covering universities, technical colleges and community colleges. In this episode of “On Background,” Charlotte walks listeners through how her collegiate experiences prepped her to cover education in NW Washington.

Ep 7: Addressing barriers of trust in rural communities

What’s it like for a journalist to cover a community that they aren’t familiar with? CDN’s Sophia Gates talks about it in this episode of “On Background.” Sophia highlights the importance of covering rural communities in Whatcom and Skagit counties and why access to local news is beneficial. Sophia's position is supported by the Murrow News Fellowship, a state-funded program that places reporters in Washington newsrooms. All of her stories are available for free, outside CDN’s paywall.