Carol Carter interview

Sunday, March 14, 2021 – 9:00 a.m.

Carol Carter is the editor of the Oxford Weekly Planet news website.

Detectives Beckwith and Magee spoke to her in her office about Joanne Ebner.

Participants

• Detective P. Beckwith
• Detective J. Magee
• Carol Carter

Detective Beckwith: Hi, Carol. Thank you for taking this meeting with us. We'll try to be brief. Before we begin, can you please state your name and address for the record?

Carol Carter: Sure. My name is Carol Carter. I live at 1526 Frontage Road.

Detective Beckwith: Thank you, Ms. Carter. We just wanted to verify a meeting you had with Joanne Ebner. When's the last time you saw Ms. Ebner?

Carol Carter: Let me look at my schedule. She's one of our freelance journalists, so we don't meet on a regular basis. It looks like the last time we met was in January. January 5th.

Detective Beckwith: You haven't spoken with her since then?

Carol Carter: We exchanged a few emails regarding her assignments, but we haven't met in person since then.

Detective Beckwith: What time was your meeting?

Carol Carter: It was at 2:00 p.m.

Detective Magee: And do you remember that meeting?

Carol Carter: Yeah, I do. I asked her if she would be interested in doing a small piece about a play they were putting on at the high school. I know that's not the kind of journalism she's interested in, but she reluctantly agreed.

Detective Magee: What kind of journalism is she interested in?

Carol Carter: Well, she wants to do more serious investigative journalism, not "puff pieces," as she calls them.

Detective Beckwith: How long did the meeting last?

Carol Carter: Oh, not long. An hour at the most.

Detective Beckwith: Has Joanne mentioned any other stories she might be working on besides what you have assigned to her?

Carol Carter: No, not that I can recall.

Detective Beckwith: Has she pitched any ideas to you?

Carol Carter: Come to think of it, she did say that she wanted to work more closely with the sheriff's department. She asked if she could try to dig up some leads, but I told her we already have someone on the crime beat.

Detective Beckwith: Has she talked to you about any stories she's working on that aren't assignments from you?

Carol Carter: You mean pieces she's writing for other publications? No, she'd have no reason to.

Detective Beckwith: What about any stories she's doing … I don't know what you'd call it. On spec? Something that's not an assignment from anyone?

Carol Carter: No, but she probably wouldn't talk to me about something like that until it was ready to go.

Detective Magee: What other assignments have you had her working on in the last two months?

Carol Carter: Let's see here … We had her doing a piece on veterans of the Gulf War. And now she's working on a retrospective for Jitney Jungle Supermarkets.

Detective Beckwith: Not too many Jitneys left.

Carol Carter: No, not since the late '90s.

Detective Magee: Do you know Joanne well?

Carol Carter: Not really. We met last year when she started doing some freelance work for us, but we've only ever discussed business. Is she in some kind of trouble?

Detective Magee: There's no need for concern. Thank you for your time, Ms. Carter.

Carol Carter: Anytime, Detectives.

Interview ended – 9:19 a.m.