‘Hyperlocal’ news written from afar This report is the work of an investigative reporting class in the School of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The project analyzed public records about an interlocking network of conservative news organizations connected to the free market, anti-tax, anti-union Illinois Policy Institute. The SIU reporting project examined documents obtained…
The local paper looks a lot different to Harrisburg, Ill. residents Karen and David Stilley than to fellow residents Mike and Angella Gauch. To the Stilleys the SE Illinois News is a welcome replacement for the retrenching local paper, the Harrisburg Register. To the Gauches, the paper is a propaganda sheet that targeted them in…
The journalists’ beats are small Illinois towns. But the reporters live, work and write in Idaho, Texas, Oregon and British Columbia, seldom or never setting foot in the communities they cover. Most are freelancers who hear about work with Interactive Content Services by reading Internet ads. The freelancers write up press releases in a few…