On this episode of the WUNCPolitics podcast, memories of Mark Binker.
The widely respected journalist and experienced member of the North Carolina Capitol Press Corps, died unexpectedly Saturday morning. He was 43.
Binker could regularly be seen moving swiftly through the halls of the legislature, with a lanyard hanging around his neck, and a notebook tucked into his back pocket. He began reporting on the General Assembly for the Greensboro News & Record in 2005, worked as a multimedia reporter with WRAL television for five years, and earlier this year began writing for The Insider, a government newsletter owned by the Raleigh News & Observer.
Several of Binker's former colleagues remember him on the podcast this week for his fair and thorough reporting, an ability to succinctly explain complicated policy issues, a deep passion for journalism, and his role as a father. Binker had an expansive knowledge about state government and its process, and his dogged approach to the craft earned him the respect of those he covered. He was as a role model for younger and new members of the capitol press corps, quietly serving as a standard to emulate.
He is survived by his wife and two sons.
