WPLN News commits to reporting on the rising cost of housing and its consequences

Next week, WPLN News is releasing the first story in the newsroom’s immersive reporting project about the rising price of housing in Nashville.

WPLN News is focusing on housing for this quarter after many months of conversation within the newsroom.

“We have reported on housing for many years, but it’s also impossible to ignore right now how much the cost of housing is rising. We’ve seen from home price data, like, single family home prices have gone up by 25% over the past year. Rents have gone up by 20% over the past two years,” said WPLN News Director Emily Siner in a Tuesday interview on This Is Nashville.

On Monday evening, Siner and other WPLN News journalists hosted a listening session to get a better understanding of what the community wants to know about housing. The group of community members that participated included residents struggling with the high housing prices, housing advocates, realtors and people involved with creating housing policy.

“I think one of the big takeaways (from the listening session) is that there just seems to be this lack of education around housing,” Siner said. “People don’t exactly understand … who makes what decisions when it comes to things like zoning or affordable housing policies. There’s not a lot of information about what programs are already out there to help people.”

The WPLN newsroom is focusing on housing because it affects so many other aspects of Middle Tennesseans’ lives. The lack of stable housing also disproportionately impacts the region’s youngest residents.

“The emotional support for the children that are now in an unstable environment, new friends, a whole new situation — it reminded me of the same impact that the May 2010 flood had on the children. And everyone was focused on the adults and the homes that had to be restored, but the children had to keep moving,” said Ruby Baker, a Bordeaux resident and president of the Bordeaux Hills Neighborhood Association, during Monday’s listening session. 

The stories WPLN News will publish over the next weeks are intended to serve as a resource for listeners. WPLN News reporters are currently investigating housing practices and unpacking city and state policy.

Journalists can’t propose new laws or finance one side on a certain issue, but have the ability to take community questions directly to those in charge.

“We’re also in a position to ask questions of people in power and help guide change. So that when people come to us and they say, ‘Why is this the way it is?’ We have the ear of people in power and can ask those questions,” Siner said. “And, like, at our core, I think this is sort of at the heart of the entire focus. At our core, journalism is about reflecting back what is happening in our community. We can document what’s happening and provide a snapshot of this moment, and that is powerful, too.”