A man became Tarboro's watchdog after it lost its newspaper. Now his work is getting noticed

When Tarboro lost its local newspaper, John Walker didn't leave.

Instead, he stayed and built the digital news site "My Tarboro Today" to keep covering the community. After WRAL featured his work in Left Uncovered: Inside North Carolina's News Deserts, Walker says the response has been humbling.

"Overwhelming is the word that I would use," Walker said.

Walker came to Tarboro in 2012 as publisher of the Daily Southerner. Two years later, the paper's parent company, CNHI, shut it down.

Rather than leave, Walker and his wife stayed. Today, he covers town council meetings, local high school sports, obituaries, and other community news on My Tarboro Today.

In Left Uncovered, Walker described what it's like to do the work that an entire local newspaper once handled.

Since the documentary aired, support for his work has grown dramatically.

Walker said visits to his website have increased from about 490,000 to more than 530,000, and he's gained hundreds of new subscribers.

"To know that the feedback has been so positive, that people share my concern for local news, its importance, the fact that we need to know, has just been amazing," Walker said.

Supporters have also shared stories about the impact of his reporting.

One Facebook user called Walker "a guiding light" and "a local hero."

Another credited him with bringing attention to a proposed data center in Edgecombe County.

Walker said he covered the very first planning board meeting on the proposal. After residents organized and voiced their concerns, the town council ultimately denied the application.

Walker believes that coverage made a difference.

"As he wrote, we would probably have data centers in Edgecombe County right now had I not been there to cover that meeting," Walker said.

For Walker, that's exactly why local journalism matters.

He said he attends government meetings because many community members can't, then shares what happened so people can stay informed.

"I'm a tax-paying citizen who goes into these meetings and takes notes and then regurgitates it to the community because the community's not in those rooms," Walker said.

He says too often, important public hearings happen with little or no public attendance.

"I can't tell you the number of public hearings I've attended over my career where there was no public present, where there was no public voice. And after something passed, people wanted to be upset," Walker said.

The response to the documentary has only reinforced his commitment to continue doing the work.

"This has reiterated and underscored to me that it is important that the community wants to know. And I'm proud to be the one telling them, telling that story, sharing that information," Walker said.