Carrington Tatum covers poverty, power and public policy in Memphis and Shelby County for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. He has interned with The Dallas Morning News to bolster coverage of the historically Black and brown and underserved southern side of Dallas. He also interned with The Texas Tribune, covering mainly homelessness and higher education. He cut his journalism teeth as a first-generation college student from Garland, Texas, at Texas State University, where he was the first Black editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The University Star.
Beat: Poverty, power and public policy in Memphis and Shelby County
This Reporter focuses on the intersection of poverty, power and public policy in Memphis and Shelby County. In practical terms, that includes writing stories on the pandemic and its impact on disenfranchised residents and “essential” workers, and monitoring elected bodies on measures that affect low-wage residents. This reporter also does enterprise reporting on the plight of the working poor; covers live events (protests, demonstrations, press conferences) as assigned, and works on longer-term profiles and issue stories.