How NYS Team member Adria R. Walker delivers insights for readers

Dear D&C Subscribers --

As a regular reader of the Democrat and Chronicle, you no doubt have noticed reporter Adria R. Walker's byline above numerous stories since she began with us in June 2020.

Let me share a bit more about her remarkable journey to becoming a central member of our journalistic team.

In early 2020, the D&C applied for two grant-funded reporting positions through the Report for America project.

This project, supported by The GroundTruth Foundation, uses philanthropic dollars to place reporters in local newsrooms that by and large have been shrinking the past 15 years. The change and challenge caused by the rise of digital delivery of information and by changing audience habits have had a significant revenue impact, and unfortunately there are fewer local journalists in towns and cities across America.

In June 2020, Adria began with the D&C as a Report for America journalist as did another reporter whose byline you've surely seen, Natalia Rodríguez Medina. Both Adria and Natalia have added so much to our team's discussions about which stories we might pursue and about how we become more inclusive in our coverage in order to serve the whole community better.

The D&C has covered at least half of their salaries, The GroundTruth Foundation has supported a percentage and the rest has been covered through fundraising that's led to numerous donations from readers like yourself.

Adria is a Mississippi native and a graduate of an excellent liberal arts college there, Millsaps College. She worked in Jackson Mississippi for a time before coming to Rochester nearly two years ago. Almost immediately, Natalia and she confronted the challenges of covering the aftermath of the revelation that Daniel Prude had died in March 2020 after having been restrained by Rochester police.

Separately and together, they brought context, perspective and rich detail to reporting on the community's reaction. As Adria has said, there was deep grief in the Black community at Prude's death, and the many evenings of rallies and marches were about more than simply protesting outside the public safety building. As one headline over an Adria-Natalia story noted, there was singing and dancing (and prayer and art) as well.

Adria contributed numerous pieces to our "The Learning Curve" series following one family's experiences during the 2020-21 school year when so many students had to learn remotely. And in her explorations of Rochester, she's come across numerous interesting stories large and small.

Very recently, we promoted Adria to join our New York State Team led by Editor Sarah Taddeo. Adria's role is to be a "backpack storytelling reporter," meaning she will travel to where compelling stories are, inside Rochester or up or down the Thruway.

More: This Western NY Black-owned record store has survived almost 60 years. Here's their story.

This past week, her story about city of Buffalo residents' mixed feelings about the state's massive investment in a new Buffalo Bills football stadium outside of city limits captured the nuance that exists in nearly every public policy matter. This is the reporting that is authentic and real.

In her story, she speaks to a minister who believes "The Bills’ move from the city left blight and a gaping hole in the East Side community....He wishes the team never left downtown. Now, his dream is to bring the Bills back."

And she speaks to people with the opposite view: Some believe "there are other ways the city of Buffalo can lift their community — ones that don't involve planting a new stadium in their backyards."

The story is rich in detail and place names and history. It's quite evident Adria spent sufficient time in Buffalo to listen, and listen and listen. That's how insightful journalism comes into being.

Look for many more such insightful stories from Adria R. Walker going forward. We look forward to them and hope you do as well.

Each week, usually on Sunday evenings, we'll email you highlights of our reporting and videography created exclusively for our subscribers. And we'll share with you some "behind-the-scenes" tidbits on how such journalism comes to be.

Below are some other stories written only for our subscribers you may have missed this month.

Thank you for your continuing support of local news in Rochester. We’re greatly appreciative.

Sincerely,Michael Kilian

Executive Editor

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: D&C: Your Week in Rochester newsletter for subscribers