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News

Timely coverage of the people, policies, and events shaping New Orleans and Louisiana. This category delivers clear, factual reporting that keeps readers informed about local government, community issues, and stories that matter most to everyday residents.

‘Servitude’

The author, who is also associate editor for the Angolite magazine, won an honorable mention for this essay in the 2024 PEN Prison Writing Awards.
by John Corley January 2, 2025 Updated December 30, 2024

‘Resentment is not inevitable’

"I am not a person who came to prison and became a writer, I am a writer who happened to come to prison."
by Lawson Strickland, winner of the PEN Prison Writing Award for Fiction, as interviewed by Nick Chrastil, The Lens December 26, 2024 Updated December 26, 2024

Waiting.

This story was awarded the top PEN Prison Writing Award for fiction.
by Lawson Strickland December 26, 2024 Updated December 27, 2024

Top debate student couldn’t sway School Board to keep his school open

Delores Taylor Arthur School for Young Men closed Friday, and its students are now frantically trying to find spots to finish out the school year. Parents say that the school’s mid-year closing was a tragedy that could have been foreseen – and prevented.
by Marta Jewson December 21, 2024 Updated December 21, 2024

Alabo Wharf deal gets slippery

In the Holy Cross Neighborhood, residents obtain Port emails showing that a modest grain terminal at the Alabo Wharf includes more phases—and now includes crude sunflower oil, shipped in from Turkey.
by Delaney Dryfoos December 20, 2024 Updated December 20, 2024

Fighting Act 246 in court

As advocates and lawyers file suit against the state, asking a judge to bar the reclassification of drugs used for medication abortion, women seeking IUDs and needing prenatal care say that they are also feeling the effects of the new law.
by La'Shance Perry December 18, 2024 Updated December 20, 2024

City Council committee allows Entergy New Orleans to sell its natural gas system

Though Councilmembers were swayed by job creation, critics said that the jobs pale in comparison to the rate increases and environmental effects that Orleans residents will now shoulder.
by Delaney Dryfoos December 17, 2024 Updated December 20, 2024

Towns across Louisiana clamor to build new juvenile detention centers

Local governments request more than $500 million to build regional and local juvenile-detention facilities — and to repair and construct some adult jails.
by Nick Chrastil December 16, 2024 Updated March 27, 2026

‘Tis the season for school closures

Four city schools are likely to close. Budget shortfall could top $49 million.
by Marta Jewson December 10, 2024 Updated December 10, 2024

HIV treatment disrupted by climate change

A new analysis finds that New Orleans and other parts of the country with high HIV prevalence are also some of the most at-risk areas for climate disasters
by Jessica Kutz, The 19th December 9, 2024 Updated December 8, 2024

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Most Popular

Loud enough for Washington to hearLoud enough for Washington to hearAugust 27, 2026Emmanuel Felton, with photographs by Gus BennettDriving District 6
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Court deems Black cultural connections as race, not cultureCourt deems Black cultural connections as race, not cultureAugust 24, 2026Emmanuel Felton, with photographs by Gus BennettDriving District 6

The Lens
The Lens fights to reveal and report on issues that impact the community and the region. Staunchly defending the public's right to know and deeply committed to sharing our knowledge with the community at large. We center human impact in all our work.
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Our reporting has more urgency than ever.


For more than a decade, we have reported on issues as well as public policy meant to address the needs of residents. The Lens seeks to focus on the inherent inequality that has created a multi-tiered system. We, at The Lens seek to uncover, illuminate, inform and take part in a forward-looking community. Join us.

 
 

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