What Matters to You in the South?

Hi — I’m Emily Cochrane, a correspondent for The New York Times. After covering Congress for four years in Washington, D.C., I moved to Nashville to cover the American South. This includes Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, both Carolinas and Tennessee.

As I start this new job, I’m especially curious about how the issues I covered on Capitol Hill — from infrastructure to inflation — are affecting people in the region. The cost of groceries, access to health care and what is being taught in schools are national issues, but what matters most to you? What makes your life distinct, and what is our coverage missing as the South continues to change?

There are a lot of people for me to meet and places for me to go, plus plenty of phone calls for my two cats to interrupt. But on top of all that, one way I plan to report on the South is by reaching out directly to readers.