Chad Medford: The man behind Morganton's video needs

If residents tune into CoMPAS at any point in the week, or stream the Morganton city council meetings, or really watch any video created for the city, they’re likely to be looking at the handiwork of Chad Medford, Morganton’s Studio Specialist.

“My world is video, I guess you could say,” Medford said, as static video feeds of the empty city council chambers rolled on the screen.

CoMPAS is Morganton’s city-owned television, internet, and telephone service, and Medford is the man who creates advertisements and manages the audio and video needs for local broadcasts.

Medford spent years working in television, particularly in camera operation, including a stint in the news industry with WLOS-TV, a television station based in Asheville.

He said the excitement of that job kept him hooked on working in the field.

“I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff,” Medford explained, “but people don’t understand. They say, ‘Why do you want to put stuff like that on (TV)? But along with the bad stuff, there’s lots of good stuff, too.”

“Feel-good stories,” he continued. “I got to cover the Panthers games. I covered the Tar Heels. I got to meet two presidents working at Channel 13. With the bad, there was a lot of good, as well.”

He explained that when President George W. Bush visited a BMW plant in South Carolina, Medford was part of a camera crew that followed the president from the airport to the plant.

In the late 1990s, nearly two decades before Donald Trump’s first term, Medford said he and a reporter interviewed the future president while the man was debating on putting a golf course in an area nearby.

In early May 2026, Medford received a pin for 20 years of service with the city of Morganton, presented to him by City Council member Butch McSwain.

“I particularly want to thank you for the way you go about things,” McSwain said to Medford at the May 4 city council meeting. “You make (events) enjoyable. You have that sense of humor at your job that is really enjoyable. (I) look forward to doing 10 more years of that (with you).”

Medford said that over the next eight years, before his retirement, he looked forward to working with the city’s team.

“There’s good people here, at this city,” he said. “We have a great admin department. Sally Sandy’s one of the best I’ve ever worked for, as far as a manager.”

When Medford isn’t making sure the city’s audio and visual needs are met, he covers weddings, graduations, recitals, sporting events, and more with his own side business, Chad Medford’s Video Service.

He also works with KTC Broadcasting on Friday night football games.

“I set up a couple of cameras,” he explained. “We have play-by-play guys, and I’ll make that happen, where we stream the video on YouTube for KTC Broadcasting.”

“We’re looking at, maybe in the next year, doing (high school football) here,” he continued. “It’s not written in stone, but we’re talking about it.”

One of the projects with the city that he pointed to being particularly proud of was the joint project with the county, the documentary “Remembering Helene.”

The documentary received second place in the “Videography” category in the North Carolina City & County Communicators (NC3C) 2026 Excellence in Communication Awards in mid-May.

“I did video work (and) did interviews,” Medford said. “All of the drone stuff you saw, that was me.”