Who We Are
Mercury Local runs two newsrooms: The Charlotte Mercury (regional) and Strolling Ballantyne (hyper-local). We publish on a weekly cadence, keep cookies off the menu, and assume readers can handle nuance without the hand-holding.
Why We Exist
Local outlets traded trust for programmatic pennies; we’d rather stay broke than broker your data. Our job is to reveal how city budgets bend, which zoning vote sneaks through, and why your corner bakery suddenly costs double. No click-churn, no “developing story” theatrics—just finished work that stands.
How We Work
- Slow Journalism — We wait for facts, not quotes shouted in hallways.
- Privacy First — Zero third-party trackers. Consent lives on our own servers.
- Reader Revenue — First-party ads keep the lights on.
- AI With Training Wheels — Bots handle transcripts; humans write the sentences worth reading.
What Comes Next
We’re adding beats for schools, courts, and climate. We’ll open-source our CMS change log so subscribers can watch edits in real time. And yes, the tipline still runs on Signal.
Call to Action
Got a scoop or a gripe? Contact us and send your information to our inbox. Advertisers curious about a tracker-free audience can start with Charlotte Mercury or Strolling Ballantyne.
Footnotes & Fine Print
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