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 to target … [Read more...] about ‘Publishers can only do so much by themselves’
Local news
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 newspapers are … [Read more...] about State of rural journalism: Buyers needed, news deserts expanding
Local news outlets can help readers vet credible sources of information on invasion in Ukraine
This morning as soon as I woke up, I went immediately to search for news from Ukraine. It’s hard to imagine a more important, more devastating story gripping the world right now. It is not a local story for much of America, yet, and its significance is undoubtedly greater to those of us who lived through the Cold War. I spent much of my childhood with the possibility of war … [Read more...] about Local news outlets can help readers vet credible sources of information on invasion in Ukraine
Local news outlets should do more to combat pandemic misinformation
A recent report tracking the public’s attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccinations illustrates the extent of misinformation out there as we head into another long pandemic winter. The Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor–a non-partisan source of health news—found that nearly eight in 10 of the people surveyed are unsure about at least one common … [Read more...] about Local news outlets should do more to combat pandemic misinformation
‘It’s not as bad as I thought’: An examination of how the pandemic impacted news organizations in eight Midwestern states
It could have been worse. Much worse. In fact, the executive director of the Missouri Press Association expected the COVID-19 pandemic to gut a local newspaper industry already reeling from more than a decade of competition from free digital content, rising newsprint costs and circulation declines. Seven of the state’s 200 or so newspapers ceased publishing in 2020, while … [Read more...] about ‘It’s not as bad as I thought’: An examination of how the pandemic impacted news organizations in eight Midwestern states