After 10 years working in local news and 11 years covering the local news industry and training local journalists, I know the phrase “save local news” as a well-worn refrain.
Then, I heard Christopher Baxter, CEO and president of the nonprofit online newsroom Spotlight PA, share the stump speech he gives about his newsroom.
“Stop saying ‘save local news,’” he said in a panel at last week’s conference for Local Independent Online News Publishers.
His approach instead: “Take it back.”
I reached out to Baxter this week to hear more. It starts with acknowledging up front what most people’s experiences have been like with their own local newspapers.
“You have come to expect so little of us,” Baxter said. “Less quality, less people on the streets, less engagement, a smaller newspaper, no one answering your phone call, no one helping you fi you don’t get your newspaper. It’s been terrible. I think it’s a really important stating point.”
And he doesn’t talk about saving anything.
“In their heads, they’re like, ‘Well why would I save that? My newspaper is owned by a hedge fund or my newspaper isn’t even here anymore or even when it was good, it never really wrote about me,’” Baxter said. “But also fundamentally, it’s not their job.”
Instead, he talks about what the loss of local news has meant to a community.
It doesn’t work to ride into town and trash talk the legacy newsroom. People still have pride in their publications, Baxter said, even if they’re not well-served by them.
“That’s where we get back to this idea of not saving this old thing, but rebuilding it together.”
And taking it back, he said, is the rallying cry.
Journalism is the only profession mentioned in the Constitution. It plays a fundamental role in society and in local communities. What needs to be restored is the public service that provides, Baxter said. Not the corporations or the hedge funds or the advertising.
“That’s not why journalism is in the Constitution,” Baxter said. “It really was about community and a community institution that made the community better. So let’s build that back. Let’s take that back.”
Here are a few other great things I learned in Chicago:
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Block Club Chicago hosted its first-ever block party. They also have great merch.
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Check out Next Gen News’ report and toolkit.
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See how Afro LA created its own AI policy, which offers definitions, limitations and tons fo transparency.
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I also led a table talk about working with early-career journalists from a retention perspective. Here’s a doc with some tools I shared. One thing that’s not in that doc but got a big response when we talked about it is this advice for our younger colleagues — punctuation is not punishment. It’s a good reminder that when we come from different generations, we’re going to experience a lot of things in different ways, including communication. When I, a 46-year-old Gen Xer, use punctuation in my texts or Slacks, it doesn’t mean I’m mad. It means that’s how I learned to communicate. Whatever your age, if you recognize that those differences exist, you can navigate them with curiosity instead of defensiveness or judgment.
A few more things to share:
That’s it for me. Next week I hit the town for a series of talks about my new book, which of course is full of the weird and wonderful. Reply to this email with your home address and I’ll send you a cool old postcard from a Florida hotel, motel or inn.
Kristen
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