WRAL News Debuts New Durham Newsroom

Capitol Broadcasting’s NBC affiliate WRAL Raleigh, N.C., has long had a newsroom in Durham, N.C., and since May 11 those dedicated Durham news crews have a new place to set up shop. With its central location and window-front presentation designed specifically to engage visitors, this new newsroom represents WRAL’s “longstanding commitment to the city and county,” it says.

The debut coincided with the much-anticipated return of baseball to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, right next door to the new bureau home base.

The new newsroom windows are outfitted with a news ticker and TVs set up for the public to watch and listen to newscasts, with picnic tables outside. It is centrally located between the Durham Performing Arts Center and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, making it easy to get a quick update on news headlines and weather forecasts while on your way to anything happening at the American Tobacco Campus.

WRAL News Director Rick Gall spoke on how the new space will allow for our continued dedication to the Durham area. “We’re excited to have a new, vibrant home for our crews who work hard daily to keep Durham residents informed of what’s going on locally. This visible newsroom will help emphasize our unwavering dedication to serving the Bull City.”

The American Tobacco Campus and the Durham Bulls are owned and operated by WRAL’s parent company, Capitol Broadcasting Co. This addition, it says, “is simply a reflection of the established deep roots the company has in this community.”

To add a unique, local flare to the newsroom, WRAL commissioned Durham-based artist Candy Carver to paint a mural inside the newsroom (above). The mural is called, “The South Got Somethin’ to Say.” Carver says the mural is meant to shine a light on all those who go unsung. The mural was unveiled with the newsroom on May 11.

In addition to the main newsroom at the WRAL studios in Raleigh and the Durham newsroom, WRAL has reporters based in Fayetteville and Rocky Mount. “Having reporters living and working across our viewing area in the communities they cover makes it possible for WRAL News to cover more stories that are relevant in those communities and all that makes them special,” said WRAL Vice President Joel Davis.