Documentary Coverage

After child's gun death, a family turns pain into purpose

Across North Carolina in the last six years, more than 600 kids died from gun violence. Jenesis Dockery's parents are turning their loss into a cause, pressing for stricter punishments for those who fail to store weapons safely.

Cristin Severance, WRAL investigative documentary producer

Families, gun owners, lawmakers agree on this simple solution to reduce child gun deaths in North Carolina

More children die of gun violence each year in the United States than from cancer; more die from gun violence than in car crashes. In North Carolina, the problem is worse: Children are 51% more likely to die from guns compared to the national average.

Cristin Severance, WRAL investigative documentary producer

Two families, school, community feel ripple effect of 8-year-old's shooting death

Across North Carolina in the last six years, more than 600 kids died from gun violence. Jenesis Dockery's parents are among hundreds coming to terms with the tragic loss of a child.

Cristin Severance, WRAL investigative documentary producer

At the barbershop, talk turns to solutions to gun violence

Gun safety advocates are visiting barbershops and consultants are working with barbers in training about the importance of a gun lock.

Cristin Severance, WRAL documentary investigative producer

WRAL Documentary: UnSafe: North Carolina kids dying from gun violence

In UnSafe: North Carolina Kids Dying from Gun Violence, WRAL Investigative Documentary Reporter Cristin Severance and Documentary Photojournalist Dwayne Myers shed light on the devastating impacts of gun violence through the deeply personal story of one family's loss.

WRAL Documentary: UnSafe: North Carolina kids dying from gun violence

Guns kill more kids in North Carolina than any other cause. The WRAL Documentary "UnSafe" shows the devastation toll of youth gun violence and a simple solution that has bipartisan support that could save lives.

'The Space Race' premieres on Monday

"The Space Race" looks at the first Black pilots, engineers and scientists to become astronauts.

UNC student group to screen WRAL doc 'Ghosts in the Stadium' for Black History Month

The Carolina Association of Black Journalists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is hosting a public screening of the WRAL documentary "Ghosts in the Stadium" in honor of Black History Month.

WRAL Staff

Christmas Day documentary checks in on people we covered this year

Our WRAL Doc Unit is sharing new stories from some of their most powerful documentaries over the last year.

WRAL Documentary: 'Where Are They Now?' updates impactful stories of 2023

WRAL's award winning documentary unit is checking in with the people and stories at the heart of our most impactful 2023 documentaries.

WRAL Documentary: Where Are They Now?

WRAL's award winning documentary unit is checking in with the people and stories at the heart of our most impactful 2023 documentaries.

'Built on their graves:' Fans tailgated on top of 500 unmarked graves at Clemson football stadium

For many years, football fans at Clemson University parked their vehicles and tailgated right in the middle of a burial ground - many never even realizing there were hundreds of people buried right beneath their feet.

Chris Lea, WRAL Sports Anchor & Cristin Severance, WRAL Investigative Documentary Producer & Heather Leah, WRAL multiplatform producer

Panthers stadium built overtop lost Black community, site of horrific lynching

Tens of thousands of people visit Bank of America stadium to watch the Carolina Panthers play football each year - never realizing they are walking on top of lost remnants of a once-thriving Black neighborhood established in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Chris Lea, WRAL Sports Anchor & Cristin Severance, WRAL Investigative Documentary Producer

'Killed dozens:' Kenan Stadium linked with lost history of the Wilmington Massacre

Have you ever wondered what's buried beneath your favorite football stadium? Kenan Memorial Stadium at UNC Chapel Hill is linked with a history that was hidden for decades: The Wilmington Massacre.

Chris Lea, WRAL Sports anchor & Cristin Severance, WRAL Investigative Documentary producer

Graves by Gate 6: Thousands tailgated by graves of enslaved men and women outside Carter-Finley Stadium

Imagine walking past a lost burial ground for formerly enslaved men and women every time you went to see a football game at NC State.

Chris Lea, WRAL Sports Anchor & Cristin Severance, WRAL Investigative Documentary Producer

'Ghosts in the Stadium' premieres at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

WRAL Investigative Documentary Producer Cristin Severance and WRAL Sports Anchor Chris Lea set out to uncover who these stadiums were named after, where they were built and what communities they displaced.

WRAL documentary 'Ghosts in the Stadium' examines unknown past of four iconic football stadiums in the Carolinas

WRAL Investigative Documentary Producer Cristin Severance and WRAL Sports Anchor Chris Lea set out to uncover who these stadiums were named after, where they were built and what communities they displaced.

Cristin Severance, WRAL Investigative Documentary Producer

Ghosts in the stadium: How the past conflicts with our fandom

A WRAL documentary examines the complicated history of some of North Carolina's most cherished football stadiums.

WRAL Documentary: Ghosts in the Stadium

WRAL's Documentary, "Ghosts in the Stadium," is the story of four iconic stadiums in the Carolinas and their links to the painful history of race relations in the United States.

Ken Burns' 'The American Buffalo' finds heartbreak and hope as it rides through US history

(CNN) -- Anyone with an interest in history should be quite familiar with the Ken Burns playbook, which he puts to characteristically impressive use in "American Buffalo," a documentary weaving together the near-extinction of these majestic beasts, dispossession of Native-Americans and exploitation of the American West under one sweeping umbrella filled with heartbreak but also hope.

Review by Brian Lowry, CNN

Former Brooklyn school student becomes 9/11 documentarian

Back on September 11, 2001, a 5th grader remembers everything that happened that day. Her dad responded with so many of his FDNY members. He survived the attacks but died from a 9/11-related illness in 2016. Now, she is documenting advocates of the Zadroga Act to expand health care for first responders with a project titled "Dust."

UNC Pembroke student studying PFAS in Cape Fear River

University of North Carolina at Pembroke Ashley Barez has spent the past two years studying chemical contamination in the Gray's Creek Community.

Cape Fear officials urge state to study health risks from 'forever chemicals' in drinking water

The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority spent $43 million on filters to remove forever chemicals from water dumped by a facility in Fayetteville.

Liz McLaughlin, WRAL climate change reporter

13-year-old NC cancer survivor fights for clean water

Abigail Herman, 13, had kidney cancer. She now has skin cancer. She is advocating for clean drinking water after a plant dumped chemicals into the Cape Fear River for decades.

Cristin Severance, WRAL investigative reporter/documentary producer

13-year-old Wilmington cancer survior fights for clean water

Thousands of people are fighting for clean drinking water in North Carolina after a plant dumped chemicals into the Cape Fear River for decades.