By Jonathan Limehouse
November 13, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic influenced so many stories from various news outlets around Charlotte that the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative and BOOM Charlotte have partnered to create an eight-chapter graphic novel titled “The Pandemic: Stories of Covid-19.”
Each chapter pairs a local journalist with a local artist to illustrate comic book panels based on previously reported Covid-19 stories. A new chapter of the graphic novel will be released every two weeks before concluding in February. So far, the group has released its introduction and the first chapter, which retells the story of Covid-survivor Cedric Meekins and how contract tracing helped pinpoint the origins of how he contracted the disease.
“Covid-19 is affecting the lives of everyone,” says Chris Rudisill, director of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative. “This creates an opportunity to translate local news reporting and scientific information in a new and dynamic way that will reach audiences who are typically not regular news readers or viewers.”
The Charlotte Journalism Collaborative is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems.
