Journalism collaborations help produce community impact, policy solutions

When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, weekly and smaller newspapers scrambled to provide coverage of the huge global story affecting their readerships even though they had much smaller staff and fewer resources than the city’s larger media outlets. But for publications like the South Side Weekly, Wednesday Journal and Loop North News in and around

TV ad called objectionable, but stations couldn’t refuse it

TV stations could not refuse to run Eric Greitens’ political ad showing him with an armed tactical squad in hunt of “Rino” Republicans, as long as he paid for the air time. No matter how objectionable, defamatory or wrong a federal candidate’s TV ad may be, the Communications Act of 1934 has a “no-censorship no-liability

‘Publishers can only do so much by themselves’

Growing up in rural Iowa, Becky Vonnahme didn’t have access to many local news sources. Now, as part-time executive director of the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation, Vonnahme has discovered why. Small publications, like small businesses, have a hard time getting funded. After all, ad sales alone just don’t support local journalism anymore. The foundation works

State of rural journalism: Buyers needed, news deserts expanding

The challenges of rural journalism are mainly the challenges of the communities it tries to serve, and many of those challenges are daunting. But they are not dispositive. That was made clear at the National Summit on Journalism in Rural America by some sharp, innovative and courageous editors, publishers, academics and other journalism supporters. “Community

Ed Martin Wears the Schlafly Mantle in Comfort

Ed Martin’s success in claiming Phyllis Schlafly’s mantle has brought him not only continued prominence but also a comfortable income. Martin is president of at least three Schlafly-related entities. Very little money passes through one of them, Phyllis Schlafly’s American Eagles, and Martin draws no income from it.  But that’s not the case with two