The return of Encore

Back in 2011, Shannon Rae Gentry had just moved to Wilmington. The Surry County native was finishing an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design after spending time abroad for the Peace Corps. She already had a psychology degree, but found herself drawn to storytelling. Settling in Wilmington, Gentry looked for a place she could do that and got an internship with the alternative weekly, Encore. 

“You talk to folks who are involved with Encore, so many of them started as interns. That’s how they get you,” said Gentry. “You fall in love with it. You just fall in love with being involved, you’re just so heavily engaged and involved in your local community and arts and cultural scenes and everything beyond.”

Gentry kept writing stories about the community and eventually moved into a part-time assistant editor role. The pay wasn’t great and there weren’t benefits, but the work was meaningful and the team was tight-knit.

“I remember taking my daughter as a baby, everyday, for a very long time before we got childcare. Just holding her and breastfeeding her while I was writing or editing,” said Gentry.

Encore, founded in 1985 by Nixie Nunnelee, printed about 10,000 copies a week and was a connector to the region’s artists, local theater, small businesses and nonprofits. But when COVID hit, the 35-year-old publication struggled, like many print publications, with the loss of ad revenue. With funds diminishing, Encore’s leadership first decided to pause the print edition. In November 2020, when the balance sheet showed they couldn’t pay staff, they quietly shut down. 

“It kind of just faded into the background, because we all felt like we can’t make a big deal out of this because so many businesses were closing. Everyone was hurting so deeply,” said Gentry. “And that’s very Encore, through and through. Encore, as a personality, cares more than anything about the community and the small businesses and the artists and the creatives first, so it definitely didn’t feel right to make a to-do of it.”

Gentry eventually found full-time work doing technical writing. But a few years ago, hanging out with Encore’s former publisher, she shared she was thinking about starting another alternative publication. 

“And my friend, the former publisher, was just like, ‘Why not just bring back Encore?’ And I was like, I didn’t know I could do that. And he said, you absolutely can,” recalled Gentry.

Gentry bought the name rights and teamed up with longtime nonprofit leader Molly Murphy to plot their next steps. They started with community listening and focus groups to get input on what the community would want in Encore 2.0. They heard there was still a desire for local arts, culture and community journalism. But they could also play a role in media literacy and civic engagement.

“There’s just something about engaging people in topics without the fodder of online,” said Gentry. “Everybody is craving these deeper conversations and connections with their community outside of the noise, the constant noise.” 

Over the last year, the relaunch team has been developing the new Encore very much in public view. Gentry has been chronicling the process through a newsletter Encore’s Next Chapter. They spent the summer and fall partnering on community events, including Songs of Peace, Stone Soup Zine Fest and a panel discussion at UNCW on AI. The leadership team, which also includes Tre Ricanek, Cathy Street, Greyson Davis and Katie Jones, secured fiscal sponsorship with the Wilmington Arts Council as they wait for their nonprofit determination letter from the IRS.

They’ve also been ramping up publishing on their site, with pieces ranging from the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra’s new season and local author Rashmi Kumar new children’s book ‘I Found My Piece’ to visual stories about the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival and Port City Jerry Day. And following the deadly Southport shooting at American Fish Company, Encore produced an audio interview with local drummer JJ Street who was performing at the bar when the chaos unfolded. 

“We wanted to showcase the real human impact that these events have on people,” said Gentry. “And even if you are lucky enough to survive it, what does that mean? What does that mean in the coming weeks? How does that define your community for those weeks, or months or years to come?”

While Encore isn’t a breaking news type of organization, Gentry says it is an important space for reflection, nuance and context for big issues. Encore will also be engaging the community around environmental topics. With partners Cape Fear River Watch, they recently were awarded a $15,000 civic science grant from the Center for Cooperative Media. They’re working on a project called “Tides of Change,” to translate local climate and flooding data into community-centered stories, events and participatory journalism.

And this month, they’re preparing for another milestone: the return of Encore’s print edition. Gentry says they’re starting with 20,000 quarterly editions as they continue to develop their revenue plan, raise funds and add paid staff. And they’ll continue partnerships and engagement to involve and reach new audiences.

“We’re really investing time in reaching a broader demographic, and making sure that we are not just reaching people who look like me or who are coming from the same general socioeconomic status,” said Gentry. “So really driving home the fact that Encore is for the people who are already active participants in their community, or they are interested in becoming active participants in their community. And that spans the gamut.”

The first print edition, which also includes the debut piece from the Tides of Change project, will be available at a launch celebration January 29th in Wilmington and distributed throughout New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties. 

“I’ve been overwhelmed with community support and enthusiasm for this publication’s return, and moreover, the craving for offline information and interaction,” said Gentry.