“It all comes back to the community part of community journalism.”  Email not displaying correctly?
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From the Marshfield (Wisconsin) News-Herald, Oct. 7, 2012, via newspapers.com.

There’s a line in Tony Baranowski’s examination of community journalism that succinctly captures the value of local news.

“(Julie) Bergman calls the basic human need for a dependable local news source ‘the big pumpkin theory,’” Baranowski reports. Here’s how Bergman, a Minnesota newspaper publisher, explained it.

“They can get their national information and their statewide information from many different sources. Who else is going to run the picture of the big pumpkin their neighbor grew that they can talk about over coffee? I’m not making fun of that! I think that’s an important kind of feature news that makes a person and people feel a part of a place. And that’s why I’m so bullish on community newspapers, whatever form or shape they take.”

“It all comes back to the community part of community journalism,” Baranowski told me.

He is bullish on community newspapers, too, and you can read why in a report Poynter co-published with the University of West Virginia’s NewStart program, where he’s a 2020-2021 fellow. That report, “Black, White and Undead all over: The true story of innovation and perseverance of America’s small newspapers,” ([link removed]) tells a different story than what’s happening to metro newspapers.

“The traditional model is totally doable if you are willing to embrace different methods,” said Baranowski, who is the director of local media for Times Citizen Communications in Iowa Falls, Iowa.

Running a locally owned newspaper can still work, he said, “as long as you remain dedicated to the community as a whole.”

We found this, even in the pandemic, in an oral history ([link removed]) Poynter published from Teri Finneman, an associate professor at the University of Kansas, and William Mari, an assistant professor of media law at Louisiana State University.

Finneman said then that the majority of journalism in the U.S. is community journalism, she said, not metro journalism, “but it’s ignored, and so it’s important to us to give a voice, especially to locally owned and family-owned newspapers.”

You can find Baranowski’s report here, and while you’re at it, make some time to learn more about the NewStart program ([link removed]) .

“Community journalists and community newspaper people need to have a little more faith in what they do,” Baranowski told me, “and a little bit more pride that hey, maybe you never got the big daily job offer that you were shooting for when you were 23 years old, but that doesn’t make your work or your experience any less impactful.”

From the Battle Creek (Michigan) Enquirer, Oct. 7, 2007, via newspapers.com.
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While you’re here
* This is a great read from a great food reporter, Hanna Raskin, on the legacy of a now-closed food writers organization ([link removed]) .
* Read INN on how the Sahan Journal increased its revenue by 50% in one year ([link removed]) .
* From Better News, learn how The Tennessean is telling stories with and for Black residents ([link removed]) .
* Listen to this episode ([link removed]) of Brian Stelter’s podcast with two local newspaper owners.
* From Sarah Scire at Nieman Lab, learn more about the new rural news consortium ([link removed]) .
* Check out this study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement that found “local news helped young people get ready to vote in 2020.” ([link removed])
* The Chattanooga TImes Free Press is working to get subscribers converted to iPads before ending all but Sunday print ([link removed]) .
* From The Washington Post, read about the New Orleans radio station that was a source of hope ([link removed]) .
* This piece on local journalism and trauma ([link removed]) from Dawn Megli will likely resonate with a lot of local journalists.
* Come to Trusting News’ next Road to Pluralism event on bias in the newsroom ([link removed]) at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16.
* Read Kathy Lu for Poynter on how to decolonize the journalism internship process ([link removed]) .
* Read Mark Jacob for Medill’s Local News Initiative on small publishers and digital ([link removed]) .
* Poynter will honor Lesley Stahl, award-winning correspondent for CBS News’ “60 Minutes” who started in local news in Boston, on Nov. 10 at our online Celebration of Journalism gala. Get tickets here ([link removed]) .
* Read my colleague Rick Edmonds on the National Trust for Local News ([link removed]) . “Rather than grants, the trust dispenses venture capital and advice, with a goal of growing local support to serve small-town news deserts.”
* And this week for the Tampa Bay Times, I wrote an obituary for a woman who lost her parents in the bombing of Hiroshima and built a life helping others in the U.S. ([link removed])
That’s it for me. I’m sorry if you feel attacked by this, but it’s too early for Halloween decorations. 🎃
Kristen

Kristen Hare
Editor, Locally
The Poynter Institute
@kristenhare ([link removed])

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