Halfway through 2025: a Ledger update

New faces, more newsletters, award nods and even a pirate series — The Ledger is growing, evolving and gearing up for what’s next. Plus: Summer reading and podcast recs

A lot has happened this year. Let’s unpack.

Hi, Lindsey here—

I’m the assistant editor at The Charlotte Ledger, and since we’ve officially made it to the halfway point of 2025 (how?!), I wanted to pop in with a little behind-the-scenes update.

But first, one small housekeeping item: Because of the July 4th holiday, this is our last newsletter for this week. Next week, we have a cool new series ready to go, which will allow the Ledger team to recharge and reset, and then we’ll be back with normal Ledgers on July 14.

OK, now back to the update…

It’s been a busy year. Busy is good — busy fuels our journalism.

We’ve had a few staff changes, and The Ledger is still rolling full steam ahead. We’re growing, we’re experimenting and we’re still laser-focused on bringing you original, thoughtful reporting.

We’ve celebrated some major milestones this year, if I don’t say so myself, including:

• We launched two new newsletters: We expanded our newsletter offerings from four to six with “Toppman on the Arts,” which features arts and entertainment reviews from longtime arts critic Lawrence Toppman, and “Real Estate Whispers,” which dishes on all of the latest real estate gossip and news across the city. (To sign up for those, you can opt into them on your “manage your subscription” page.)

• We hosted the sixth annual 40 Over 40 Awards: We celebrated 40 people over the age of 40 who are making a difference in Charlotte at an awards ceremony at Heist Brewery in May. The event was a smash, with good food, great conversation and a lively performance by dueling pianos.

• Team Ledger grew by one: Ava Mikeal joined the Ledger team as our business development director. She’s been working with our newsletter sponsors, planning events and creating posts for the Ledger’s social media accounts. She’s quickly become an asset to the team, and we’re lucky to have her.

• We were named finalists for two national awards: We are one of three finalists for awards from LION Publishers in two categories: “Product of the Year” and “Transformational Impact” — categories that would honor our work on coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the N.C. mountains and on having a robust business operation that supports strong local journalism.

• We’ve amped up our social media presence: If you haven’t checked The Ledger’s Instagram and Facebook accounts lately, we’ve refreshed our look. We’ve also hired a freelance content creator, Reece Tuggle, to make Instagram Reels for us each week. Our hope is to reach a wider audience and share our content across multiple platforms.

I also want to give a huge shoutout to the strong work coming from our freelance contributors, who continue to bring deep knowledge, sharp writing and new perspectives. They’ve helped us cover everything from hefty ambulance bills to luxury home trends to a review of Carowinds’ new adult swim-up bar — and that’s just in the past month. We feel super grateful to have such talented people contributing to The Ledger.

And speaking of talent… this summer, we’re also working with four part-time college (paid) interns. Morgan Boonshaft, Clara Dunn and Reid Heaton are contributing to our main newsletter (stay tuned for their articles!), and Braxton McDonald is helping market our Charlotte Starter Kit (a free, seven-day newcomers’ guide). As someone who started as an intern with The Ledger in 2021, I can attest how important it is to support young journalists in this day and age, and I’m happy that The Ledger is continuing to play a part in training the next generation of reporters.

🏴‍☠️ Now, for something especially cool: To kick off the first full week of July, we’re excited to roll out a special five-day series called “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” written by veteran journalist Mark Washburn. It’s a fun dive into the pirate lore, shipwrecks and buried treasure that haunt the edges of North Carolina’s coast. It’s the kind of storytelling we love — deeply researched, beautifully written and full of surprises. Stay tuned for that in your inbox from July 7 to July 11. (The full series will be available only to Ledger members 🔒, so if you want it, be sure you’re signed up.)

And we’ll have more exciting treasures for you in the months ahead, including a webinar series on health, a members-only happy hour, two newsletter series on career-boosting strategies and Charlotte history, an expansion of our Election Hub, stepped-up examination of transit and transportation issues because of the upcoming sales tax referendum — and a lot more.

Well, I think that about does it. As always, thanks for reading and for supporting local journalism. We couldn’t do this without you.

—Lindsey Banks, assistant editor, lindsey@cltledger.com

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In case you missed it, here are some book and podcast recommendations to add to your summer relaxation.

🏖️ Going to the beach? Check out these book recommendations, collected from Charlotte Mecklenburg Library staff.

🚙 Hitting the road? Check out these episodes of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast. They’re guaranteed to make the drive go by faster!

◼️ In the room where it happens: Blumenthal's Tom Gabbard talks about his experiences as CEO, how he gets big Broadway shows to come to Charlotte, and what it was like being in the room when “Hamilton” was pitched.

◼️ A peek under the cover: Joy Callaway, the Charlotte-based author of “What the Mountains Remember,” shares her journey to becoming a full-time author and how she approached writing her two newest books.

◼️ Building up tomorrow's leaders: The Academy of Goal Achievers founder and CEO, Courtnie Coble, discusses the importance of opening up students’ horizons and giving them a sense of possibilities.

◼️ The Meck Dec: Fact or fiction?: Three local experts take a close look at the story of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.

◼️ Life in morning radio: Morning radio host Marshall Terry of WFAE gives a rare peek into his career in broadcasting.

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