What We Do
In this program of the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte, student journalists produce stories with help from Queens faculty. When the university is in session, we distribute one story weekly focused on Charlotte issues. Our laboratory is not the campus, but the community of Charlotte. We launched in February 2021, in the middle of the pandemic.
Our clients include Charlotte’s NPR affiliate WFAE 90.7 FM, Charlotte’s NBC affiliate WCNC-Charlotte, The Charlotte Observer, QCity Metro, La Noticia, Q Notes, The Charlotte Ledger, Carolina Public Press and others.
We cover stories that community media don’t have resources for: Religion, Art, Non-Profits, Environment, and Sports Behind-the-Scenes.
We produced about 200 story packages in our first 42 months of operation. Initially, 90% of student stories were published. Today, it’s 100%. More than 100 students have contributed to QNS since its founding. Students have published story packages consisting of text, video, still photography and social media.
National and Community Recognition
QNS and the Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte were recognized by the Solutions Journalism Network in summer 2022 as one of eight innovative storytelling programs in the United States.
QNS is featured in a Sept 2022 piece in the College Board’s national online magazine, The Elective, on solutions journalism programs.
In 2024, students Maggie Dineen of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Nicole Rojas of Coral Springs, Florida, won EQUALibrium Awards from WFAE, the NPR affiliate in Charlotte. They were recognized for outstanding contributions in advancing issues of equity and economic mobility within the community.
To date, ten students have completed paid summer scholarship programs with QNS.
Center for Community News:
QNS and its faculty adviser, Bob Page, were recognized in 2023 for leadership in academic-community news collaboration by the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont. Following Page’s departure, QNS is now being led by Charlotte Journalism Collaborative Director and Knight School Journalism Instructor, Chris Rudisill. In 2025, Rudisill was named a 2025 CCN Champion.
QNS was featured in a report by the Center for Community News at UVM that showed how news-academic reporting programs have emerged as one viable solution to the crisis facing local news, and an opportunity for the next generation to engage with their communities. “Colleges of every size are stepping up to help fill critical information gaps in their communities,” said CCN Director Richard Watts. “And their students are getting invaluable hands-on experience in the process.”
Media Relationships
After 42 months of operation, student veterans of QNS have landed positions at WFAE, ESPN, The Charlotte Business Journal, TEGNA, PBS Frontline, and Fox News.
Editors at WFAE, The Charlotte Observer, WCNC and ESPN ask specifically for QNS veterans as job applicants.
Charlotte editors provide regular feedback on student work, commission specific assignments, and welcome QNS pitches from students.
As part of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, the Knight School of Communication provides opportunities for students in QNS to participate in collaborative journalism projects and community programming.