Hey folks, I’m new in town and looking forward to telling your stories.
After a two-day car journey from Mississippi, I have arrived in Robbinsville, ready to start my position as The Graham Star’s new staff writer.
I come to this community with approximately five years of experience in journalism, first working eight months at the Hobbs News-Sun in Hobbs, N.M. before moving home to Mississippi in 2016 and working four years at the Starkville Daily News.
I grew up in Gulfport, Miss. on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and earned my associate’s degree at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in 2013. I then went to the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Miss. (co-ed since 1982), graduating in 2015 with a bachelor’s in communication and a minor in culinary arts.
I enjoy the storytelling aspect of journalism the most, as well as the people I get to meet covering a small community like Robbinsville. I also feel I have a duty to keep this community informed and that is something I do not take lightly. I hope to give this community the fairest, most accurate reporting that I can and to tell the types of stories close to Robbinsville and Graham County’s heart. I take great pride in my craft and I hope to use my skills for the greater good of this community.
Outside of journalism, I enjoy playing music, cooking, craft beer, fishing and exploring, among other activities. I hope to see more of the county and the mountain region as I make my new life here. The mountain region was a big part of why I chose to take this job, as these hills have long held a special intrigue for this guy who spent the bulk of his life in a flat, low-lying area that only slants down slightly as it nears the Gulf of Mexico.
I look forward to meeting y’all and to becoming a part of the community. Please feel free to contact me with questions, story ideas or anything else.
Hope to see y’all around.
Charlie Benton is the new staff writer for The Graham Star. He can be reached via phone, 479-3383 and email, news@grahamstar.com.