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ARE JOURNALISTS AFFECTED?

volume 58, no. 1 • spring 2017 grassroots editor • spring 2017

Table of Contents

About this issue Trading places: Send D.C. reporters Page 2 to Lebanon, Missouri By GARY SOSNIECKI Poll: News media not ‘enemy of Pages 12-13 American people’ Page 2 Community newspapers are the real ‘mainstream’ media Some weekly editors feeling effects By ROGER HARNACK of Trump attack on press Page 14 By BRIAN J. HUNHOFF Pages 3-5 How Donald Trump gave new life to real journalism With media, President Trump has By BILL SCHANEN his cake and eats it, too Page 15 By LAYNE BRUCE Page 6 Hostile environment created by White House What Trump’s election has taught leads to best time to launch journalism career this journalist By JENNIFER KARCHMER By MELISSA HALE-SPENCER Page 16 Pages 7-8 Trump’s manipulation of belief = propaganda Need for confidential sources By JOHN MARSHALL likely to increase Page 9 By DAVID GORDON Pages 17-18 Enemy of the people By DIANE CHIDDISTER Review: Local Journalism in a Digital World Page 10 Authors: KRISTY HESS AND LISA WALLER Reviewed by ANGELA LONG Newspapers must ‘resist, dammit, resist’ Pages 19-20 By BRUCE B. BRUGMANN Pages 11, 13

1 grassroots editor • spring 2017 About this issue

The enemy of the American people. Editor: Dr. Chad Stebbins Graphic Designer: Carl Fowler The dishonest media. Grassroots Editor (USPS 227-040, ISSN 0017-3541) is published quarterly for $50 per year by Fake news. the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, Institute of President Donald Trump’s attacks on the news media have led us to wonder whether and International Studies, Missouri Southern how community newspapers are being affected. Has the conflict between the president and State University, 3950 East Newman press trickled down to the grassroots level? Road, Joplin, MO 64801-1595. Periodicals postage paid at Joplin, Mo., and at additional mailing offices. Dave Gordon, ISWNE president, envisioned a series of columns/commentaries focusing on the current tensions between the news media and President Trump. We invited about a POSTMASTER: Send address changes dozen of ISWNE’s best editorialists – they have won a combined eight Golden Quill awards to Grassroots Editor, Institute of International Studies, Missouri Southern – to write these think-pieces. State University, 3950 E. Newman Road, Joplin, MO 64801-1595. The spring issue of Grassroots Editor often tackles items of pressing concern to ISWNE Volume 58, Issue 1, Spring 2017 members. Previous topics have included: • The impact of big-box stores on communities and community newspapers; • Recruiting reporters in rural outposts; • How community newspapers can succeed online; • Community newspapers are alive and well despite predictions of their pending demise; • Transition time: editor-owners grapple with when and how.

President Dr. Dave Gordon These topics pale in comparison to President Trump’s ongoing war against the media. Professor Emeritus University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire The essays in this issue describe the current state of affairs in the writers’ communities while Vice President: Steve Ranson providing some analysis of the turmoil’s longer-range significance for the news media, the Lahontan Valley News presidency, and the public. A couple of our writers are even optimistic that the battle will Fallon, Nevada breathe new life into journalism, much like the Watergate scandal did 40 years ago. Executive Director: Dr. Chad Stebbins, Director, Institute of We’ve tried to provide differing opinions and analyses, but regardless of which side you International Studies, Missouri Southern come down on, it’s a fluid situation that changes almost daily. Stay tuned; the press is in for State University, 3950 E. Newman Road, Joplin, MO 64801-1595 the ride of its life. Phone: (417) 625-9736 Fax: (417) 659-4445 E-Mail: [email protected] Board of Directors: Poll: News media not Steve Bonspiel The Eastern Door Kahnawake, Quebec ‘enemy of American people’ Dr. Deborah Givens Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, Kentucky In an Iowa county where 56.6% of the rural vote went to Donald Trump, he apparently failed to convince everyone that the news media are The Enemy. Jan Haupt Lodi, Wisconsin Bill Tubbs, publisher of The North Scott Press in Eldridge, Iowa, noted this in Mike Buffington The Jackson Herald reporting to Grassroots Editor the results Jefferson, Georgia of a question posted on his paper’s website Andy Schotz at www.northscottpress.com. The ques- The Frederick News-Post tion asked, “Do you believe the President Frederick, Maryland of the United States when he said the news Marcia Martinek media is the enemy of the American peo- Herald Democrat ple?” Leadville, Colorado Tubbs wrote: “Typically we receive 40-60 Immediate Past President: votes but on this one we received 225 votes and 91 percent said NO.” Barry Wilson From a news media perspective, he added, “That’s encouraging.” Asset Media Services Kiama, NSW, Australia 2 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Some weekly editors feeling effects of Trump attack on press

By BRIAN J. HUNHOFF “Anyone skimming comments under an article can see that instead of the regular, expected ‘this article is awful’ comments, Dishonest. Disgusting. Horrible. Sick. Fake. Enemy of the you now see true journalism being discredited by the masses who American people. disagree with the content,” Whitehouse said. “Calling a piece of Those are a few of the ways President Donald Trump has work fake news has become the joke that makes no journalist been describing the media in response to unfavorable news laugh, but one we all have to hear.” reports. Whitehouse shared an example that hit close to home. “I Investigative journalism about Vietnam and Watergate recently had a dispute with a local police chief who disagrees with sparked public trust in the press to an all-time high of 72 percent the way we report using postal addresses – which has been the in 1976. It has dropped to an all-time low of 32 percent in 2017. same practice for more than 100 years,” she said. “After spending President Trump proudly says, “Maybe I had something to do 30 minutes to an hour explaining to him how and why the infor- with that.” mation is gathered, he took to his Facebook page and called my Is Trump’s persistent attempt to brand the press as “fake reporting ‘intentional fake news’. news” damaging perceptions of community newspapers as well? “I think those in power, from local to national, feel much We asked 12 weekly editors and publishers in 11 different states, more comfortable making negative comments about the media gathering opinions until a reasonable geographic balance was than they did before,” Whitehouse said. “Those comments are achieved. increasing in frequency while the threshold for earning the fake Some have seen a negative “Trump effect” on their newspa- news label continues to fall. pers. Most agreed dialogue with their readers about the news- “It is time for newspapers to take ourselves off the whipping gathering process and accurate coverage of local events is the best post and defend our hard work,” she said. “I think newspapers response. need to show readers how information is gathered, vetted and reported so they have an understanding of the standard of the ***** news profession.” Mobridge, South Dakota: Katie Zerr is an award-winning Whitehouse is concerned about this president’s potential news editor at the Mobridge Tribune, located in a conservative impact on the First Amendment. “It was very clear how Trump community in a conservative state. Her progressive-leaning edito- felt about the press early on and anyone paying attention could see rials do not please some readers and Trump’s comments haven’t the next four years could be very hostile for the media,” she said. helped. If anything, tolerance for opposing points of view is in “I did expect it to trickle down, but never imagined it would have decline, Zerr said. an effect quite to this extent.” “I have debated with myself on deciding editorial topics more in the past two months than I ever have in the past,” Zerr said. ***** “Not that I am afraid of backlash from my opinions, but because Idyllwild, California: Becky Clark is editor and co-publisher this president’s supporters are very passionate. More than a few of the Idyllwild Town Crier in southern California. Some of the will not tolerate any criticism of him or his administration. newspaper’s Republican readers took Clark to task for coverage “I find the passion of those followers also impacts their opin- of a group that advocates resistance to Trump’s policies. ion of news,” Zerr said. “There are a percentage who let their pas- “I’m getting criticism for running photos of a group called sion cloud their view of the news. They have a hard time separat- Idyllwild Indivisible where more than 140 people showed up at ing news from editorials. They feel that if I don’t share in that pas- one of the first meetings,” she said. “They have accused me of tak- sion for the president, the information in the paper is not to be ing a stand in favor of this group. trusted, even if it has nothing to do with national news. “When 140 people or even 50 people show up a meeting in “They may have had that opinion before the November elec- this small town, that’s news,” she said. tion, but it seems more pronounced now,” she said. Clark says community newspapers can respond to critics by doing their job and standing up for their work: “Keep reporting ***** facts. Write opinions about First Amendment issues as often as Stanford, Kentucky: Interior Journal editor Abigail possible. Defend, defend, defend.” Whitehouse says President Trump’s constant criticism of the media is harmful to community newspapers. ***** “I do believe Trump's ongoing rhetoric regarding the press Jefferson, Georgia: Mike Buffington is editor and co-publish- has had an effect,” Whitehouse said. “I don't think a weekly news- er of the Jackson Herald and five other Peach State weeklies. The paper in Kentucky would have been called fake news, jokingly or 2015 Cervi Award recipient has mixed feelings about the impact not, before Trump.” of Trump’s attacks on media. The central Kentucky journalist says Trump’s impact is espe- “We’ve seen both sides of this,” Buffington said. “Some peo- cially evident in online comments posted under articles on news- ple blast the mainstream media or comment in a negative way paper websites. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

3 grassroots editor • spring 2017 about how the media treats Trump, but they will often add, ‘but of the national media think they are winning this battle with the not our local newspaper.’ president, they are mistaken. They may destroy his presidency, but “They try to slice and dice between ‘their’ local paper and the they will never win the hearts and minds of the people in the mid- people they know personally, and the bigger, impersonal media,” dle of the country.” Buffington said. Ward believes the mainstream press does have a pronounced “Despite that, I think it does have a real trickle-down effect liberal bias. “If the media wants respect, they should report the on us. Local newspapers that do their jobs right will never be news fairly. It’s that simple. But they can’t do it. They just can’t. loved by local public officials.” They know themselves to be too smart, too self-important.” The anti-media atmosphere makes it easy for local officials to Ward does not see Trump’s broadside against the press echo what they hear on the national stage, Buffington said. He affecting his weekly publication. “I have not really found any dif- offered an example from a recent situation involving a Georgia ference in treatment of reporters in our communities,” he said. law enforcement agency. “The public information person decided “It’s pretty much business as usual. We cover Clinton towns and after Trump’s election he no longer had to release information to Trump towns. his local newspaper,” he said. “The newspaper had to threaten a “The only difference I’ve seen is more stridency and anger in lawsuit to deal with that. comments at the end of our online stories,” Ward said. “They “One of the problems is people often don’t recognize the dif- were always bad; they are now worse.” ference between news and opinion,” Buffington said. “I’ve lost Those remarks no longer appear on The Valley Breeze web- subscribers who didn’t like my anti-Trump columns and think it is site immediately. “Comments are now held for review,” he said. biased news. They really don’t understand the difference.” “No more launching them live by readers. We review first, then Social media sites masquerading as legitimate news providers launch them live to try to keep it more civil.” are another concern. “People will believe almost anything, no Eventually, “things will simmer down and people will behave matter how crazy, if they see it on social media,” Buffington said. better, as they do in letters to the editor,” Ward said. “It’s no dif- “Some observers say that is the power of friends engaging ferent than swatting a puppy on the nose with the newspaper. with friends. Traditional news outlets are getting left behind Same thing.” because many people trust their social networks more than tradi- He has not made a habit of it, but Ward occasionally shares tional sources of information.” political views in his column. “It’s been a soft winter, and I don’t know why,” he said. “I’ve asked my salespersons if they think ***** we’ve lost a customer, even one, based on my politics. They tell Andale, Kansas: Five years after buying The Clarion in 2012, me ‘No, they don’t hear that’.” 31-year-old Joey Young remains one of the Sunflower State’s youngest weekly publishers. He does not believe Trump’s ***** remarks about the press have affected his three central Kansas Thomson, Illinois: Jon Whitney has published the Carroll newspapers. Yet. County Review for 50 years. He said Trump’s sweeping condem- “Outside of some letters to the editor, I’m not sure we have nation of the press has not changed local opinions of the Review. had any direct effect from his comments,” Young said. “I would- Whitney says, “I haven't seen any differing of the local populace's n’t put it past happening in the future if his rhetoric continues. view of us and our product since the president went on his ram- “I am concerned,” Young said. “People who came out in sup- page of attempting to divert the public's view of his foibles and lies port of Trump are from my region of the country. Many of his to the media wrestling with how to cover him.” strongest supporters are my neighbors, friends and even some fel- The 2005 Illinois Journalist of the Year, Whitney did hear low newspaper publishers.” good-natured ribbing after some of Trump’s comments. “I have Major newspapers like The Washington Post and New York received a couple of jokingly snarky comments about all of our Times will likely benefit from Trump’s attacks, Young said. “The fake news,” he said. “They weren't meant seriously and I didn't ones that could be harmed are newspapers in the Midwest where take them seriously. the fervor for Trump is so high. “I simply responded with my own version of the issue by say- “I’m not sure they were ever readers if they are so easily ing: ‘Well, if you quit making fake news, I won't have to print it’.” manipulated by someone like Trump,” he said. “I guess we will Whitney thinks local newspapers should mostly ignore Trump’s see as his comments become angrier and more pointed.” bombast, report accurate stories, and weigh in on important Young suggests writing editorials that point out a local issues with civil, well-reasoned editorials. paper’s commitment and connection to the community. “We should never apologize for having opinions contrary to “I don’t know if coming to the aid of The New York Times others, but we must continue to guard against letting our opinions and Washington Post does you any good, unless you are so influence our news coverage or creep into stories,” he said. “If we inclined, and I am not sure they need it,” he said. “Talk about do that, history and our communities will judge us fairly and accu- what you do, how you do it, and why you are important to the rately and we will prevail.” community.” ***** ***** Athens, Ohio: Terry Smith is editor and publisher of the Lincoln, Rhode Island: Tom Ward has published The Valley Athens News. Smith arrived in the Ohio community 30 years ago. Breeze for 21 years. A conservative newspaperman in what he Publishing in a major “swing” state naturally leads to reporting calls “deep-blue Rhode Island,” Ward is one of the few who saw and commentary about national politics. Trump’s election upset coming. “There has been no effect (from Trump’s media criticism) “That anger was years in the making,” he said. “If members CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

4 grassroots editor • spring 2017 that I’ve noticed,” Smith said. “We’re a hybrid community/alter- native newspaper, and our negative coverage of Trump in ***** columns and cartoons and story selection about rallies, protests, Custer, South Dakota: Custer County Chronicle owner etc., is consistent with our approach to national events ever since Charley Najacht lives six hours north of Martinek in a different I got here. political climate. Najacht is a conservative editor in a western “Our readers would be amazed if we covered him any other town in a bright red state. He said, “Some national news media way,” Smith said. “If people don’t like us now, they very likely did- like CNN have (criticism) coming for their obvious bias in cover- n’t like us before Trump got elected.” ing the recent presidential election. “The few conservative journalists in our profession see some ***** of this as the liberal national media getting a well-deserved thump- Twisp, Washington: Don Nelson owns the Methow Valley ing for being so biased in the past and present,” Najacht said. News, a well-known weekly with many national awards on the “Those people and other Clinton cheerleaders can’t get over the wall. The current president of the Washington Newspaper fact that their gal lost.” Publishers Association, Nelson has seen no Trump-related change Could Trump’s press barbs trickle down and hurt the in reader reaction to his product. Chronicle’s credibility? “We are about as far removed from the “We do cover national events and carry opinion pieces about national news as you can get,” Najacht said. “Our readers and them as they affect our community or region,” Nelson said. “But advertisers are intelligent enough to know the difference between predominantly we are all about local news, which our readers the national print and broadcast news folks the president keeps expect and respect. criticizing, and their local newspaper.” “It’s such a small place that our staffers are all well-known in Najacht added, “Our community weekly newspaper profes- the community,” Nelson said. “It would be bizarre if any of us sion is not being attacked, at least not the one I have been associ- were labeled as enemies. Our readers don’t think of us in the ated with for the past 45 years. Therefore, I see no need to defend same way they do the mainstream media.” it. Nelson generally resists the urge to editorialize about Trump. “The obviously biased liberal national news organizations are “I’ve been tempted, as I’m sure other small-newspaper editors the ones being chastised by the president,” he said. have, to weigh in on all things Trump almost every week,” he said. “Unfortunately, he does himself no good by making outlandish “I’d have a lot to say and it would be emphatic, but I mostly let it charges and accusations, which totally destroys his diminishing go unsaid. It’s not the kind of opinion writing that is going to have credibility.” much meaning in my community. It would just be me ranting for the most part.” ***** A community newspaper’s best response to Trump’s rhetoric Cannon Falls, Minnesota: Mike Dalton’s Cannon Falls is good journalism, Nelson said. “We need to do our jobs really Beacon has chronicled his southeast Minnesota community since well week in and week out to create and sustain credibility. As our 1876. best writing coaches say, ‘show, don’t tell.’ Our newspaper has “I feel we’ve cemented a reputation as a fair and honest ironclad standards about information we provide, and no one will newspaper over that time,” Dalton said. “Individuals may point to be able to accuse us of generating fake news.” certain articles they feel are unfair, but the overall perception of our paper has not diminished. We’ve had zero backlash since ***** Trump began his anti-media campaign.” Leadville, Colorado: Herald-Democrat editor Marcia Weekly newspapers hold a different place in America than Martinek calls herself “a blue editor in a blue town in a blue large metro dailies, Dalton said. “We report on people news – state.” She said “people tend to joke about what Trump is saying” bake sales, Girl Scout cookies. We also allow both sides of argu- in her Democrat-leaning community. ments to present their points of view through letters to the editor “Some Leadville residents repeat Trump’s statements about and opinion pieces. We’ve shown we don’t have bias toward one media bias and then say quickly, ‘But that’s not about you, side or the other. Marcia’.” “If we continue to do what we’ve been doing for hundreds of Martinek answers, “It is about the media, and I am the years, we won’t be painted with the same brush as the national media, so of course it’s about me.” newspapers.” In the face of Trump’s blistering rebuke of the press, Dalton believes President Trump’s remarks about news Martinek says local journalists must respond with communication media will strengthen the resolve of journalists all over America and transparency. to continue reporting what’s out there. “First and foremost we should always act with integrity,” she “We’re going to see a groundswell of support from the said. “Beyond that, we should talk with our readers via editorials American people,” he said. “Those who love Trump will never and columns and explain what we do, how we do it, why we do have their minds changed; but those who are moderate it. If we are criticized via letters or verbally at public meetings, we Republicans, or on the fence about some of Trump’s orders, will should make sure to publish those letters and report on those be swayed by solid journalism.” comments.” Martinek has been running house ads that promote the cred- Brian J. Hunhoff is the former co-publisher and owner of the ibility and reliability of the Herald-Democrat. Like Buffington, she Yankton County Observer in Yankton, South Dakota. He can be says it is important to remind readers of the difference between contacted at [email protected]. news and opinion.

5 grassroots editor • spring 2017 With media, President Trump has his cake and eats it, too

By LAYNE BRUCE brush, accusing the media of being an “enemy of the American people,” and not get defensive about it. President Trump wants to have it both ways, and, for But we have to shake it off and steel ourselves to the now at least, it looks like he’s getting what he wants. reality that this is the president’s modus operandi: Shoot first He excoriates the media as an “enemy” of the people, and let the adults in the administration clean up the mess but gorges on it – even the purveyors of what he maintains later. as “fake news.” He clearly subscribes to the line of thought Those same adults would have us believe he actually that any kind of publicity is good publicity. doesn’t mean the media en masse are truly nasty people – What else could be behind the melodramatic move bar- just those dirty, rotten scoundrels at CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC ring The New York and The “failing” New Times, CNN, and York Times. Politico from a Feb. Political theater. 24 briefing by press I get it. secretary Sean Circulation rises every time But it’s also a Spicer? dangerous gambit – It accomplishes for us in the media three things: the president Tweets about business, for politi- 1) Rattles the cians, and for the vot- press, 2) Serves a ers who rely on the huge helping of red the newspaper. freedoms granted meat to Trump’s under the First unswerving base, and Amendment probably 3) Draws plenty of much more than they attention to an attention-starved politician. (Yes, he’s a politi- realize. cian now.) Given the general disdain – genuine hate, even – many The sort of unflattering coverage the president has Americans harbor for the “mainstream media,” it’s hard to attracted in his first month on the job is by no means unique imagine us playing the role of the persecuted very well. to him. He’s definitely not the first to have a tempestuous That distaste doesn’t always trickle down to the local relationship with the press. That goes back to the founding of media, but it’s undeniably a challenge for all of us to over- the nation. come. Much like how bad news that encircles the largest But Thomas Jefferson was famously quoted as saying if it newspapers in the country tends to drive the conversation were left to him “to decide whether we should have a govern- about the vitality of the entire industry. ment without newspapers or newspapers without a govern- But, hey, the drama may be good for business. New York ment, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” Times executive editor Dean Baquet says circulation rises Keep in mind he said this during the nation’s infancy and every time the president Tweets about the newspaper. And a time when newspapers were hyper-partisan. The Washington Post recently announced the addition of five I came of age when the drama of Watergate was much- dozen new journalists to the payroll. discussed in journalism classes. The struggle of the Nixon If we have learned nothing else in the last 18 months, we administration to cover up and obfuscate was still very fresh. know Donald Trump is who he is, and he’s not interested in President Clinton couldn’t possibly have been happy with the “pivoting.” coverage of his own travails. So it’s incumbent upon us to figure out the new normal And, though it’s easily forgotten now, President and how to navigate it. And report on it. Obama’s administration was not the friendliest to the media. The nation needs the press. And the president does, too. When it took a strong tack against Fox News, other outlets This isn’t a banana republic. like CNN and The New York Times stood with that network Not yet. to object. Still, none crossed the bridge Trump recently has. Layne Bruce is executive director of the Mississippi Press It’s difficult to listen to recent remarks from President Association. He can be contacted at [email protected]. This Trump painting the press broadly and with a very dirty column originally ran in the MPA’s “Inkblots” newsletter.

6 grassroots editor • spring 2017 What Trump’s election has taught this journalist

By MELISSA HALE-SPENCER ate public that reads many and competing news sources. It’s hard work but that’s how the truth comes out. I was accosted last month in the grocery store. A man Early newspapers in America were partisan, much as shouted at me that I had written “fake news.” many news websites are today. It’s easy to get caught in an I stopped the forward momentum of my shopping cart to echo chamber, reading, or listening, to only those with views talk to him. He was referencing a recent editorial I’d written similar to your own. about a Muslim woman speaking in a local church to a crowd I grew up in an era when newspapers served as a com- of people who had come to learn about her religion. Her talk mon meeting ground for varied views. had been interrupted by a man whose outburst frightened As Walter Lippmann opined, “The theory of a free press some in the crowd. Sheriff’s deputies had been called. is that the truth will emerge from free reporting and free dis- As I talked to this angry man in the grocery store, cussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly explaining the difference between an editorial and a news in any one account.” story, I realized he was the same man who had interrupted I’ve lived by that credo for half a century. Now, howev- the Muslim’s talk. er, it is upended because without a central meeting place – I’m used to people I don’t know stopping me in public like the opinion pages in our newspaper or on our website – places like a grocery store or post office to tell me what they there is no place for the exchange of ideas. One person can’t think of what I’ve written. It comes with the territory. correct another so that the truth may emerge. But the rhetoric and intensity has changed since Donald This has made me more steadfast in trying to make our Trump’s presidential campaign and election. Civility has pages and our website as inclusive as possible. That’s why I often fallen by the wayside and the rants often include terms wish the angry man had wanted to be included, to become that have lost their meaning. part of the dialogue. Although I live in New York, a blue “Fake news” didn’t apply here. I had talked to the organ- state, our newspaper covers the Helderberg Hilltowns, which izers, the Muslim woman at the center of the controversy, is decidedly Trump territory. and others in attendance to get straight what had happened Startlingly beautiful, the Helderberg escarpment has before I had written my editorial. rocky land settled by an independent breed of farmers. They Other terms the angry man used – describing me as “elit- led the Anti-Rent Wars in the 1800s, throwing off the yoke of ist” or part of “big media” – didn’t apply either. Two years an oppressive Dutch patroon system. ago, I had bought the weekly Altamont Enterprise where I The Hilltown residents today stand in sharp contrast to had been an editor for decades. Three of us formed a part- the suburban “flatlanders,” as they call them, who live in the nership to make the purchase – myself; my husband who predominantly blue towns we also cover. kept his day job and remains a silent partner; and Marcello The number of enrolled Democrats to enrolled Iaia who had started his first job as a reporter at The Republicans is 2 to 1 or even 3 to 1 in the Hilltowns, and Enterprise two years before. He has the technical skills to they voted accordingly, along party lines, for Barack Obama. vault us into the future. Not so in the last election – despite party enrollment, the We’re hardly elitists; Marcello and I work long hours for tallies were overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. less than minimum wage. And we’re certainly not big media This has caused me to take a hard look at how Trump – it’s just us. reached voters. The vast majority of daily newspapers wrote After I explained this to the angry man, I invited him to editorials endorsing Hillary Clinton and many were caught express his own views on our pages. He declined. off guard with Trump’s victory. In recent months, at the many meetings I cover, I have The analysis I found most prescient was from Danielle noticed increased polarization and name-calling, often with Allen, a political theorist at Harvard, who noted in the labels that don’t apply. I think part of this is because of the Nieman Reports that the majority of Americans now prefer way Americans get their news now. to watch or listen to the news rather than read it. She notes It brings to mind a comment Thomas Jefferson made in that Donald Trump, from his start in the Republican primar- a 1787 letter. We’re all familiar with this first sentence: “The ies, was the only candidate campaigning exclusively through basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the television. very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left A decade ago, most Americans with a high school diplo- to me to decide whether we should have a government with- ma or more education were daily readers of newspapers or out newspapers or newspapers without a government, I their websites – now that number is at 40 percent. About 60 should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” percent get their news from television. Allen also notes that, Let’s now focus on the sentence that follows that: “But I on average, Americans spend 20 minutes of their weekend should mean that every man should receive these papers and leisure time reading while they spend three-and-a-quarter be capable of reading them.” hours watching television. Two-hundred-and-thirty years later, we still need a liter- CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 7 grassroots editor • spring 2017

(A 2016 report from the United States Department of We’d also like to start an outreach to our schools in light Labor breaks it down further, showing that reading time of the findings in the Stanford study, “Evaluating increases with age just as computer time decreases. Information: The Cornerstone of Civil Online Reasoning.” Individuals age 75 and over averaged 1.1 hours of reading For a year and a half, the Stanford History Education Group per weekend day and 20 minutes playing games or using a studied the ability of students to judge the credibility of infor- computer for leisure while, conversely, individuals ages 15 to mation that “floods their smartphones, tablets, and comput- 19 read for an average of 8 minutes per weekend day and ers.” spent 1.3 hours playing games or using a computer for The researchers found “a stunning and dismaying consis- leisure.) tency” and reported, “Overall, young people’s ability to rea- Allen notes that Trump’s election website during the pri- son about the information on the Internet can be summed up maries didn’t have policy documents; it had a series of short in one word: bleak.” video clips. Trump wasn’t talking to readers; he was talking The Stanford group correctly asserts, “Ordinary people to watchers. once relied on publishers, editors, and subject matter experts This modern “oral culture,” as Allen terms it, has the to vet the information they consumed. But on the unregulat- power to transcend borders the way the printed word did. ed internet, all bets are off.” But more, it can do so instantly, and it can be tailored to indi- The group goes on to quote philosopher Michael Lynch vidual taste. who observed that the internet is “both the world’s best fact- Today, nearly two-thirds of American adults get their checker and the world’s best bias confirmer – often at the news from social media, up from 49 percent less than four same time.” years ago. Like the Stanford researchers, we worry that democracy Each of us have, just a click away, information from all is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic over the world on any subject about which we are curious. issues is allowed to spread and flourish. We need to teach This can make us broad-minded and well informed, or it can people to check their sources before they believe or share make us narrow-minded and ill informed. It all depends on what they’ve found online. how we use it. At the same time, newspaper readership has A recent Pew Research Center survey says nearly a quar- declined from an average 25 minutes a day in 2010 to 15 ter of Americans say they have shared made-up news. minutes a day in 2016. That same study, conducted in December, found that We were pleased, when we surveyed Enterprise readers, about two-in-three adults in the United States (64 percent) that they spent an average of 62 minutes each on our paper. say fabricated news stories cause a great deal of confusion But what about the people who aren’t reading? How can we about the basic facts of current issues and events. This sense reach them? is shared widely, the researchers found, across political par- This year, we started producing weekly podcasts to ties, across incomes, and across educational levels. record varied views from people in our coverage area – not We spend hours these days checking facts for letters to the elected officials typically interviewed. And the format is the editor, and going over with the letter writers the sources different, too, not an interview style with scripted questions from which they obtained their information. – rather, a free-form conversation that takes us to new In these turbulent times, we believe it is essential to pro- places. vide a reliable source of news – a place where mistakes are We’ve also started doing a weekly tour of the news, corrected, a place where a variety of voices are heard, a place filmed live for Facebook – a walk-through with casual com- where differences are aired in a civil manner, a place where mentary on the local news. Editorials – the voice of the paper common ground can be sought to solve problems and where – are also recorded so they can be listened to in podcast understanding can be deepened. form. We’ve come to realize it’s not enough to have our print- Melissa Hale-Spencer is editor of The Altamont Enterprise in ed words show up on our website in a form where people can Altamont, New York. She can be contacted at mhale- read them on their phones. People are often more likely to [email protected]. listen.

8 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Trump’s manipulation of belief = propaganda

By JOHN MARSHALL exaggeration (“unaffordable”) and lies (“death panels”) even before the Act became law. A grinding thrum of antagonism It began quickly after the election, before the man was even would ensure that the ACA lose credibility from the outset. inaugurated. Donald Trump was off and running, thumbs flying, Later, it became a “failure” even as tens of millions of previous- out ahead of the pack as our Tweeter-in-Chief. In early ly uninsured Americans signed on. After all, we read it in The December Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local Times. 1999, had challenged Trump for his claim to have saved a thou- America and other civilized nations have experienced in sand jobs at Carrier Corporation in Indiana. recent years a frontal assault on even the barest truths. The Jones, who knew about such matters as jobs and whether Internet, with its hideouts and echo chambers, provides the Carrier was shipping them overseas, said Trump’s boast was dank caves and fertile footing of anonymity for the incubation of overdoing it, that 350 positions had been saved already. The falsehood and, of course, fear. The opportunity for repetition – president-elect began thumbing away, tweeting that Jones “has tell a lie often enough, it grows legs – and relay will guarantee done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies the shortest growing season. flee the country.” Donald Trump began his presidential campaign by looting In no time and for the first time, America had a president- the birther movement, that tired wheeze about Obama’s failure elect accused of cyberbullying. A Republican strategist, alarmed, to prove his citizenship. Later, when caught in his own lie, feared that Trump’s messaging could “discourage people from Trump announced that Hillary Clinton had started it. The furi- speaking out.” ous loathing that stains the immigration debate, the assault on At that moment, our venerable and perceptive national climate change science, even the wild inaccuracies about feder- news media had a ripe opportunity to set things straight by not- al taxes and dozens more falsehoods have begun or have gained ing the difference between cyberbullying and cyber-belching. In energy through the Internet, its tweets, its strange and threaten- those earlier days, Trump’s digital petulance seemed little more ing assortment of “journalists,” including Steve Bannon, the than annoyance, twitter-twaddle that carried all the force of gnat Breitbart fascist who is now senior advisor to the president. flatulence in a Kansas headwind. More, his tweedling was more an embarrassment than intimidation – a president-elect thumb- ***** ing away furiously, like some socially-challenged grade-schooler This is mostly about a president engaged in the manipula- who had just lost at musical chairs. tion of human belief. No matter all the pretty labels – fake news, That was then. The Capitol press, the national news media, alternative facts, whatever – it is propaganda, a way to be com- for all their experience and institutional memory and insight, fortable with a lie or a falsehood. might have found the sagacity to explain it all: Cyberbullying is In Kansas, our righteous slab of sod on the High Plains, a serious matter. And from Trump, our Tweeter-in-Chief, cyber- Trump’s sudden and impulsive rants have taken many of his belching would be best ignored with the rest of his thumb supporters by surprise. If allowed to speak off the record, they spasms, politely and with sympathy. say they are torn between respect for the office and perplexity at The chance went away, stifled chiefly by the custom of rev- a president’s penchant for impulsive, irrational behavior. This erence for high office, if not the officer. Thus the tweeting, the brings up the matters of trust, accountability, whether he can be inanities continued, and with them fresh rants of xenophobia believed or taken at his word. The result for them is confusion. and ethnocentrism, a dystopia of foreign hordes crawling For the moment, they’re sticking with him, although the rela- through the desert sage to threaten our existence; all the lunacy tionship is beginning to wear at the edges. and fear-mongering have been processed and ground out, an Populism, today’s cozy affectation, is based on the notion anomalous version of news treated with great solemnity by the that people can think or fend for themselves, except that they White House Press Corps and, it follows, the rest of the nation- often don’t want to. They crave direction, the embrace of those al media. who replace a truth with something they want to be true, and In turn, and in the weeks and months to follow, the distor- who deny any evidence otherwise. This is central to Trump’s tions and lies and moral crimes have acquired an odd legitima- conspiracy of wishful thinking. cy, the extraneous authority of “alternative facts,” a framework What unsettles Trump and his sycophants more than the of intolerance and paranoia and hate in breakout for some kind lying media’s love of fact, is a more durable, venerable American of political movement. In turn, extremism is emboldened, earmark – our search for understanding. He sees so much of the license given to more fear and lying as the news becomes fake, citizenry as a barker views rubes at a fair, ripe for his gaming. and the fake becomes news. But drip by drip and over time, history tells us that fact and truth will again prove immutable. They will outlast Trump’s thumbs ***** and brace our search for understanding, for ways to make our A lot of us don’t know what to believe any more. world a better place, not a darker one. Consider the Affordable Care Act, the issues of immigra- tion, climate change, even federal tax law. Furies layered over John Marshall, retired editor of the Lindsborg (Kansas) News- the ACA are straight from the alternative facts playbook, relent- Record, writes a column weekly for the News-Record and The less perversions designed to take hold through the force of Rural Messenger (Haven, Kansas). He can be contacted at jtmar- ceaseless cadence. We had distortion (“socialized medicine”), [email protected].

9 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Enemy of the people

By DIANE CHIDDISTER were later shot or exiled to the Gulag. It was the term Robespierre used to describe his opponents during the French I’m 66 years old and, I hope, in the last year of my career Revolution’s Reign of Terror, shortly before those enemies were as an editor. I've worked more than 30 years for the Yellow killed. Springs News, and almost 11 years as editor. The annual yearly And it’s the term Donald Trump used last week to describe cycle of events – New Year’s, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Easter the American press. It’s true that Trump hasn’t shot any season, high school graduation, Fourth of July, beginning of American journalists, nor has he sent anyone to the guillotine. school, the holiday season – have come around over and over, And in using the term he likely didn’t intend any historical refer- and I know I’m repeating myself. Sometimes it gets pretty old. ence, as he’s hardly a student of history. But Trump clearly did And then along came Donald Trump. Like many, I was intend to escalate his attack on the media. stunned and dismayed by his election. Pretty much all of his pol- As Republican John McCain said recently, making war on icy goals seem wrong-headed, misinformed or mean-spirited to the media is the first thing that dictators do. That war was appar- me, and I am terrified ent in last week’s chill- by having someone of ing press conference, his combative, bullying as Trump humiliated temperament with his journalist after journal- finger on the nuclear What is fake news? ist, as well as shouting button. But even more “Fake news” at repre- than terrified, I am sentatives of main- deeply disturbed by Apparently, it’s news that stream media. Trump’s clear attempts What is fake to undermine the legiti- news? Apparently, it’s macy of the press. The Trump doesn’t like. news that Trump does- disregard of Trump and n’t like. It’s the steady his staff for objective drumbeat of informa- truth seems a blatant tion coming from, yes, attempt to disrupt the democratic process, and to weaken the progressive mainstream media outlets such as The New York watchdog role of the press regarding government and corporate Times and The Washington Post that are looking closely at the power and corruption. accumulating charges of corruption, incompetence and political So the best thing I can say about Donald Trump is, I’m fired chicanery in Trump’s stunning first month of office. up again. I can’t wait to go to work in the morning. Yes, this lit- And what, according to Trump, is real news? Apparently, tle paper in this tiny town isn’t The New York Times, but we it’s what agrees with his dark, victimized and conspiratorial journalists do the same job. We do our best to be thorough and world view, no matter how divorced from reality. It’s news like fair and accurate. Doing this job locally and doing it nationally the millions of illegal voters who gave Hillary the popular vote, seem equally important in the age of Trump, and in my 30-some and the media cover-ups of terrorist attacks (really?). years career, there’s never been a more important time to be a These stories aren’t true, yet Trump clings to them. Some journalist. began on the right-wing news site Infowars, run by conspiracy Below is an editorial published on Feb. 23, a week after theorist Alex Jones, who also believes that 9/11 was an inside Trump referred to the press as the “enemy of the people.” I’m job and that Sandy Hook never happened. preaching to the choir, as Clinton voters outnumbered Trump How do we get through this insanity, this assault on democ- voters in this little college town 12 to one. I still mainly focus edi- racy? We need to support those news outlets — The New York torials on local issues, but can’t resist the occasional furious Times, The Washington Post, NPR, ProPublica, Mother Jones, response to Trump, and our readers respond with a surprising the Atlantic, MSNBC and others — that in the face of the presi- amount of positive feedback. Here in Yellow Springs, almost dent’s contempt are doing their work with great dedication and everyone is very worried. seriousness. That work is to report the actual facts, those that will, if we’re fortunate, bring Trump down sooner rather than ***** later. “Enemy of the people” is not a phrase to throw around lightly. It was the term favored by Lenin, Stalin and other Diane Chiddister is editor of the Yellow Springs News in Ohio. Bolshevik leaders for those who opposed them, opponents who She can be contacted at [email protected].

10 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Newspapers must ‘resist, dammit, resist’

By BRUCE B. BRUGMANN saying “no comment” or some such and the aggressive reporters would list all the questions with “no comment,” thus In October 1966, with the Vietnam War heating up, illustrating the stonewall point in 96-point tempo bold. Ronald Reagan running for governor of California, and the Sometimes, when the flak or pol says off the record, use the vibes from the Summer of Love reverberating, my wife Jean “off the record” in your quote. Nothing is off the record unless Dibble and I founded the San Francisco Bay Guardian, aiming the reporter agrees to it. But use this technique sparingly and to make it an independent, locally owned and operated alterna- only on an experienced pol who is jacking you around. tive to the daily monopoly press. DO TOUGH, TIMELY, POINTED QUESTIONS... on key Significantly, the Bay Guardian staff worked under the issues. Trump wants to crack down on illegal immigrants. Why masthead slogan “It’s a newspaper’s duty to print the news and not a comparable crackdown on illegal employers? raise hell.” Keep on the key issues: the FBI confirmation of an eight- We raised a lot of hell over 50 years, but we always worked month investigation into whether the Trump campaign collud- to raise hell for worthy causes. ed with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton. Setting up an inde- Our most worthy cause was working to preserve the First pendent 9-ll style commission to investigate with an independ- Amendment, sunshine and democratic values. Now, with ent prosecutor. Trump’s tax returns? His many conflicts and Donald Trump in the White House and Russia attacking our entangling financial alliances? The spiraling millions in security election process, I respectfully suggest that ISWNE as well as costs for Trump Tower and his weekend excursions with other journalism organizations establish a Sunshine and entourage to his Florida retreat or his family's ski trip? Don’t Accountability project for the duration. let the Trump people (or other Republicans) keep changing the Resist, dammit, resist. subject to leaks or Trump-style distractions? What follows are some thoughts on how newspapers might Suggestion: run regular tabs on Trump’s millions in resist journalistically – some of these will be more applicable to expenses and how they are so much more than so many of his larger papers, but all seem worth considering: domestic programs. You get the idea. ENDORSE CANDIDATES AND BALLOT MEASURES: LOCAL PAY TO PLAY: Tim Redmond, longtime Bay Endorse as much as practical in local, state and national elec- Guardian executive editor and now editor of the two Bay tions. Regular election endorsements in the paper, and take-to- Guardian websites, suggests focusing on local officials. Match the-polls slate cards, can have a powerful influence, particular- campaign donors to political favors and contracts. The FEC ly in small communities. data base on federal campaign money is pretty good and can Be as specific as possible on voting records and positions. help reporters track congresspeople. But also look at state leg- Customize endorsements to your particular situation and islators, who are the most undercovered politicians in the coun- issues. try today with the dropoff in state capital coverage. Most states Figure out a way to get questions to the candidates, have bill trackers online and most have pretty decent campaign through interviews or by mail to the main or local office. contribution databases that allow you to follow special interest Be tough but fair and have good reasons for your endorse- bills and track the money and influence. Friendly lobbyists and ment. We refused for years to endorse Nancy Pelosi, our liber- insiders can often point out where the bad guys and the bad al San Francisco congresswoman. Almost every election we money are. Join the Investigative Reporters and Editors group would get a call from her Washington office, asking “Why does and get its newsletter and access to its data base. a liberal paper in San Francisco not endorse Pelosi?” Well, we DO FOI STORIES AND AN ANNUAL SPECIAL EDI- replied that she supported the Iraq War, led the fight to priva- TION: Almost every story with an FOI angle (secret meeting, tize the Presidio, set a terrible environmental precedent and withheld records, etc.) means at bottom there is a good public blithely breezed in and out of town without doing town halls interest story, often a real scandal. etc. Silence. Click. (See the 2016 Bay Guardian Clean Slate So check out every access issue and put the angle in the card at sfbg.com.) story. Your state press association should have an attorney on SET UP AN ENDORSEMENT UNIT OR PROCESS: To staff for legal advice. But he or she cannot sue on your behalf. do solid, influential endorsements, you must have an ongoing So you must line up a local access attorney who can make the process. Put a staffer in charge under the editor or publisher call, send the demand letter or if necessary sue, hopefully on a with a sunshine and access mandate. The editor or publisher pro bono basis. The big media aren’t suing much on access must be involved for positioning and oversight and knowing issues anymore, so this is an opportunity for small papers to when and how hard to push for answers and information from shine. politicians. Set up a procedure for getting information, votes Each year, the Bay Guardian ran an FOI special edition and positions from your state as well as national legislators. with stories based on citizen complaints and local scandals Nobody much covers state house news these days. involving access, with a list of places to go for help. Turns out Follow up with questions and do not take no for an it was a very popular issue and always produced good stories answer. Print “no comment” or “refused to comment,” as the and tips for the citizen activists. case may be. THE SUNSHINE ORDINANCE AND TASK FORCE: Perhaps try the approach used against Ron Ziegler, Our annual FOI edition and the terrible secrecy issues in San Richard Nixon’s press secretary, during Watergate. He kept CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

11 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Trading places: Send D.C. reporters to Lebanon, Missouri

By GARY SOSNIECKI media, in the academia to personally discredit not only Donald Trump but the people who are around him,” Webb The mayor called shortly after that week’s newspaper hit said. the streets. He was upset, as public officials tend to be when One of the worst examples of the anti-Trump campaign they’re unhappy with a story you’ve written. I argued back may have been what syndicated Roger Simon opined on this that the story was accurate and fair. page in the Feb. 4-5 Daily Record. In his farewell column “Listen, Sosniecki,” the mayor shot back. “The only rea- after a 40-year career, Simon wrote: “We live at a pivotal son I’m calling is because if I came down there, I’d knock time because Donald Trump and his thugs have done us a your block off.” favor. They have shown us that democracy is not inevitable. I’ve thought about the long-ago call from that mayor sev- They have shown us it can fail. eral times the past month as the feud between President “In just a matter of days, they have shown us how Trump and what he calls “the dishonest media” and “the democracy can be transformed into something evil,” Simon enemy of the American people” shows no sign of letting up. continued. “And we can imagine a future of jackboots crash- Because Trump doesn’t fit the mold of a typical slow-to- ing through our doors at 2 a.m., trucks in the streets to take make-waves new president, he can’t seem to catch a break people to the internment camps, bright lights and barking from the national media, who paint the worst-case scenario dogs – and worse.” for every action Trump takes, even though few of them are a Simon’s hysteria may be the result of having been in surprise to anyone who followed his campaign. Washington so long he’s forgotten his Midwestern roots. He Here in Laclede County, Missouri, which Trump carried and other national reporters don’t identify with us in flyover with 79.81 percent of the vote, I hear little dissatisfaction country, where people generally are happy with Trump. with the new president’s actions, at least from those who Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, writing in the Columbia voted for him. Journalism Review, tells the story of Abigail Edge, a freelance But the national media, with the exception of talk-show journalist who “had difficulty getting national media execu- host Jim Bohannon, a Lebanon native, know nothing about tives and editors to care about stories outside of the coasts…” life in Laclede County and why four of five registered voters Edge said the “media’s collective misfire on the 2016 supported Trump. The reporters sit in Press Secretary Sean election has led to an acknowledgement of our own ‘media Spicer’s press briefings every afternoon, wearing their look- bubbles’ – insular elite worlds in a handful of coastal cities good-on-TV tailored suits, and ask questions about minutiae where journalists congregate and lose touch with … everyone that mean little to most Americans. Or they appear on the else.” Sunday talk shows and the weeknight cable shows, shake Kristin Roberts, former national editor of Politico, their heads in disbelief, roll their eyes and fearfully tell us agreed the problem exists. She told Friedman-Rudovsky: that the sky is falling since Trump moved into the White “You can’t just send a gifted reporter to a far-away place and House. get anything much more than an archaic portrait of rural or To be fair, the governmentally inexperienced Tweeter- red small-town America. We need to, as journalists, know in–chief and his staff have made mistakes and misstatements, these communities, be there to experience them, and write as I predicted in a column last month. It’s fair for the nation- accurately about them and for them.” al media to hold them accountable for those failings. I have a solution: Let’s set up a reporter-exchange pro- But many national reporters and pundits have gone gram. The national media would send White House print beyond fair criticism, allowing their personal prejudices to reporters one-by-one to work a few weeks at The Lebanon overwhelm their writing and speaking to the degree that they Daily Record, while the LDR would take the national cross the lines of good taste and good journalism. They’re reporter’s seat in the White House press corps. And the not really the “enemy of the American people,” as the presi- national media’s broadcast reporters would take their turns dent accuses, but they take the bait Trump playfully casts in reporting for KJEL, with KJEL sending a reporter to D.C. front of them and, like a trout at Bennett Springs after a hun- While in Lebanon, the national reporters could cover the gry winter, they immediately swim and squirm into even city council, school board and county commission. They deeper waters of snarkiness. could write sheriff’s reports, police reports and accident You can’t get much snarkier than New York Times reports. They could cover Rotary lunches and Chamber of columnist David Brooks, who, on a “Meet the Press” panel Commerce breakfasts. I can just picture CNN’s Jake Tapper last Sunday, smugly described Trump as “a talk media host reporting on opening day of trout season at Bennett Springs from public housing.” for KJEL, and The New York Times’ David Brooks covering One week earlier on the same program, former Virginia the Lebanon City Council for The Daily Record. Sen. Jim Webb, a centrist Democrat (a rarity these days), The national reporters also could drink coffee with the gave a surprisingly fair analysis of Trump’s relationship with regulars at the Lunchbox Cafe, West Side Cafe, Faye’s Diner, the media. “There is a campaign going on on the Hill, in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

12 grassroots editor • spring 2017

Elm Street Eatery and Taste of Andy’s, where they could find nity” media. out why 79.81 percent of us supported Trump in the election This column may cause me to lose some journalist and still support him today. friends, but most of my journalist friends work in communi- Back to the mayor who said he’d knock my block off if ty newspapers, which, for the most part, don’t show political he saw me in person (a threat I didn’t take seriously). Like bias except on the editorial page, where it is acceptable and Donald Trump, the mayor had no governmental experience expected. when he was elected. Like Donald Trump, he was considered Note that my criticism doesn’t use the popular term by some to be rough around the edges, even “stupid,” as one “mainstream media.” I hate that term and wish that media businessman warned me. Like Donald Trump, he was critics like Rush Limbaugh wouldn’t use it. At Missouri unorthodox in how he ran the city. He didn’t use the same Lincoln Days last night, I thanked U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt for catchphrase, but he, too, wanted to make his community limiting his criticism to “national media.” The newspapers great again. Helen and I published were in towns as small as 907 popula- And he did, overseeing a long list of community improve- tion, and we were the mainstream media in our towns. My ments and earning re-election seven times. argument is with the national media, many of whom would That mayor, who occasionally told me off, was the most- have trouble surviving in small-town markets where Helen effective mayor I’ve covered in three-plus decades of report- and I and our journalism friends thrive. ing. Finally, where do I get my news? I still watch CNN a lot, If Donald Trump meets the same success, I hope the but I think Michael Smerconish, whose show airs twice on national media gives him credit for it. Saturdays, is its fairest host. Bret Baier’s Special Report at 5 POSTCRIPT: Usually I don’t write a postscript to my p.m. Central on FOX covers hard news straight down the columns, especially a postscript almost as long as the column middle. We switch to NBC’s Lester Holt at 5:30 p.m. In itself. But the foolish and overblown brouhaha yesterday print, until a couple weeks ago we subscribed to four daily over some national media being left out of a “gaggle” with newspapers – we just dropped USATODAY – and four President Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer makes this weeklies, three that we formerly owned plus Bill Tubbs’ column even more timely. excellent North Scott Press in Iowa. The best journalism As a professional (paid-to-write) journalist for 48 years among the dailies can be found in The Wall Street Journal. now, I consistently defended the media against allegations of The opinion pieces lean conservative, but the news stories political bias – until we attended a Trump rally in Davenport, are fair and extensive. Iowa, in December 2015, listened to CNN coverage on satel- I’ve rambled enough on a beautiful Saturday morning. I lite radio on the way home and couldn’t believe how differ- hope you enjoyed my rant. ent its coverage was from what we had just heard. After Election Night 2016, when I witnessed Wolf Blitzer’s behav- Gary Sosniecki and wife Helen edited and published The ior on CNN, I started paying more attention to the national Lebanon (Missouri) Daily Record from 1999 to 2003 and media’s coverage of the new administration – hey, I’m retired back to Lebanon in January 2016. He can be contact- retired now, I have the time – and saw more and more exam- ed at [email protected]. This column originally was published ples of reporting bias, bias that you don’t see in the “commu- in The Lebanon Daily Record on Feb. 25-26.

Newspaper must continued from page 11

Francisco’s city hall (my editorial line; “When PG&E Spits, almost nothing. City Hall Swims”) prompted us to promote the passage of a In the meantime, Tim had started his own news website, Sunshine Ordinance and Task Force, the first of its kind in www.48hillsorg. It was a 50lc3 nonprofit site, which was the country. It established a “people’s court,” to hear citizen prohibited from doing endorsements by IRS regulations. So, complaints on secrecy and access. See https://calaware.org/ when he took over the Bay Guardian, he put all of its assets resources/sunshine-ordinances/how-to. into a 501c4 nonprofit, which means he can now do endorse- Postscript: WHAT HAPPENED TO THEGUARDIAN?: ments ala the Sierra Club and the ACLU. He put up our 50th Alas, it became time for Jean and me to sell the paper and we year of endorsements in 2016. did so reluctantly in 2012. However, we put a provision in the sales contract that if the new owner killed the paper Bruce B. Brugmann was editor and publisher of the San (which is what happened without notice in October, 2014), Francisco Bay Guardian until he and his wife, Jean, sold the that owner was mandated to offer the assets to Jean or me or paper in 2012. He received ISWNE’s Eugene Cervi Award in to Tim Redmond for $l. So, Tim ended up with the paper 1988. He can be contacted at [email protected]. and is the only editor I know who bought his own paper for

13 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Community newspapers are the real ‘mainstream’ media

By ROGER HARNACK you who to contact if want to participate. We give you infor- mation from both sides of a debated issue and let you decide I used to enjoy watching the morning news on television what’s best for you. Even on our Opinion Page, we go out of before heading to work each weekday. I say used to... our way to make sure everyone can voice their opinion, no Since Donald J. Trump was elected president, the morn- matter how extreme you make think their opinion is. ing news has been transformed into the morning Trump- You won’t find that commitment on television or in big- bashing session. Not one of the major networks is exempt. city metro publications. And, apparently, neither are the big city papers, which seem If those so-called professionals working on television to operate more like tabloids these days with their anony- and in big city newspapers were really journalists, they’d halt mous sources, unsubstantiated stories and published rumors. their tirades and anonymous sources, and find the real sto- It’s no wonder why the Trumpster has tossed the so-called ries people need to know or are talking about. And, they’d “mainstream” media find sources willing to in the Dumpster. stake their reputation But that hasn’t on all subject matter. stopped television net- As a journalist, works and big city As a rural journalist and it’s easy for me to see newspapers – and why President Trump their self-proclaimed has cast aside the experts – from trying publisher, I would say media that we once to tell you and me trusted nationwide. what to believe when Simply put, the it comes to our presi- community newspapers are credibility is gone, dent. And it hasn’t long bought and paid stopped them from for by political organi- their unabated bash- zations and billion- ing. the real ‘mainstream’ media. aires. And the need Luckily, “The for big-city media to Donald” is smart hire “pretty faces” to enough to broadcast directly to us via social media. And cover unfounded drama and conjecture only adds to the mis- while his Tweets are often confusing or over-simplified, all I trust – not only from the president, but from you and me as can say is why don’t you try writing a complicated national well. message in 140 characters or less. What’s really funny here is that big-city media are Given the choice between having a self-righteous man or shocked Trump cast them aside. What did they expect would catty woman from a so-called national media outlet tell me happen when the put their biased efforts behind Hilary what to think, or to decipher Trump’s intended meanings Clinton and called it news? What did they think would hap- from a Twitter feed, I’ll take the latter. pen when American voters said enough and walked away But if we hope to see better morning shows or read more from the political class? in-depth stories, we will first have to redefine “mainstream Had the big-city media treated Trump with respect media.” As a rural journalist and publisher, I would say com- throughout the election, it wouldn’t be on the outside bark- munity newspapers are the real “mainstream” media. ing about how their access to the presidency and their influ- It doesn’t matter if you live in rural eastern Washington, ence over America has been cut off. central Iowa or western Tennessee, your small-town newspa- No, I don’t feel sorry for them. Not one bit. per does its best to inform and properly source information. In our Daily Sun pages, you won’t find anonymous sources. Roger Harnack is the publisher and editor of The Daily Sun in Everything is attributed. Sunnyside, Washington. He can be contacted at If someone is facing criminal charges, the source of the [email protected]. information is cited. If there’s a fundraiser happening, we tell

14 grassroots editor • spring 2017 How Donald Trump gave new life to real journalism

By BILL SCHANEN American people,” labeling the press dishonest and threaten- ing draconian libel laws are red meat to his voracious base, It is too soon to assess the impact of the bizarre Trump which uses the term “mainstream media” as a pejorative, but presidency on the country, but its effect on real journalism is others understand this venting is just more of the conduct already evident: It has revitalized and empowered legitimate that frequently suggests the term “unhinged” as they keep news organizations and has dramatically affirmed the tenet reading and watching the news. that an unfettered press is an essential element of a demo- This is playing out most prominently in the national cratic society. news media, but community newspapers have a stake in In other words, the election of Donald Trump is the best important ways in the reclaiming by the press of its role as thing to happen to the American press in a long time. the fourth estate of society. There is no more effective check and balance for a gov- For one, just as a rising tide lifts all vessels, the growing ernment led by a man esteem for the work who lies instinctively of the country’s and as a tactic, and largest news organiza- who attacks those tions reflects on com- who disagree with him And finally, for community munity newspapers by hurling false accu- and helps our readers sations in Twitter newspapers that cling to understand the value screeds, than truthful, of weekly journalists in-depth reporting by the notion that only local as government watch- trained, professional dogs reporting and journalists. issues should be subjects of interpreting the And those actions of local gov- trained, professional their editorials, now is the ernment. journalists – the best Beyond that, the of them from the print time to get over it. Trump presidential universe – have phenomenon will responded with a surely demand local vigor that asserts in unmistakable terms the importance and reporting in our newspapers. The momentous changes likely necessity of a free press. under this administration will have a profound impact on our The press, feeling its oats, is at the top of its game, dig- communities. In the case of mine, a port city whose economy ging relentlessly, working sources and unearthing on an and environment are dependent on a healthy Lake Michigan, almost daily basis facts to counter the fictions, referred to as Trump’s threatened cut of 90% of funding for the EPA’s “alternative facts” by one of the more colorful members of Great Lakes restoration program is important, and worri- the Trump entourage, routinely dispensed by the administra- some, news. For many weeklies, the ramifications of the tion. crackdown on immigrants will generate local news stories, as Trump’s manipulation of the press early in his campaign will the coming changes in health care. is now a lesson learned. No more are his provocative state- And finally, for community newspapers that cling to the ments reported with bland objectivity and without context. notion that only local issues should be subjects of their edito- Comprehensive fact checking is a staple of many daily news- rials, now is the time to get over it. Our voices are as worthy papers, Associated Press dispatches, network television and as any in the American press, and our readers deserve to even many online news sites. hear them on the issues spinning out of this remarkable What’s more, the public is consuming this abundant moment in our history. journalistic product with gusto. In the age of fake news, there True, given the intolerance of some people on both sides is a hunger for real news. Print and digital circulation of of the political divide, there is a whiff of the risk of alienating major dailies increased markedly with Trump’s election. readers. Well, that comes with our territory, and as real jour- Viewership of network and cable news outlets is up. Once nalists serving in a time when we are needed more than ever, said to be declining, the influence of the traditional news we should embrace it. media is refreshed and growing. Some in the journalistic fraternity worried Trump’s Bill Schanen is publisher of Ozaukee Press of Port attacks on the news media would be damaging. They weren’t. Washington, Wisconsin. He can be contacted at His characterization of news media as “an enemy of the [email protected].

15 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Hostile environment created by White House leads to best time to launch journalism career

By JENNIFER KARCHMER The best part about FB is that you can see who is posting the listing and you can send your resume directly to them, or request Gone are the days when you could open the classifieds of The more information about qualifications and pay and get your foot New York Times and circle all of the news jobs listed in the in the door through networking. employment section. In the mid-1990s, I pounded the payment in Question authority and don’t back down. “If journalism is the Big Apple. In those days, The Times had girth so it might take good, it is controversial, by its nature.” So said WikiLeaks’ Julian several cups of coffee to get through every section. The stock mar- Assange in the 2013 documentary, “We Steal Secrets: The Story ket was flying and many of the news gigs listed in the paper were of WikiLeaks.” Whether or not you’re a fan of Assange (he has on Wall Street. I made my way to Prudential Securities as an edi- lots of detractors), you’ve got to admit that he hits the nail on the tor, then to the Bond Buyer as a municipal bond reporter and head when it comes to role of journalism in our society. Who are finally to CNN Money as a personal finance writer. Times were we who call ourselves journalists if not the very people who ask good. the hard questions and challenge authority? The Trump adminis- Today, it’s no secret the downsizing sword has slashed news- tration is playing offense with the media, using a Twitter feed and rooms – to domestic and international bureaus alike. Many of my overly aggressive tactics to prey upon and mock the people in news brethren have jumped ship, turning in their cub reporter hat charge of taking him to task. Being hard-nosed comes with being for the PR flak jacket. Others have changed careers altogether. a journalist, and it’s nothing to apologize for. Get your journalism Unfortunately, parents are advising their college-bound teenagers degree and wave it proudly (even if you are making only $10 an with: “There is no money in news,” “Don’t choose journalism as hour). your major,” “The pay is bad.” Like a broken record, this gripe Join a news organization. The Society of Professional about our profession has been spinning for at least 10 or 15 years. Journalists, the International Society of Weekly Newspaper But the tide is turning. Due (or thanks) to the hostile environ- Editors, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect ment created by today’s White House toward the press corps, Journalists, the International Women’s Media Foundation news agencies seem to be stepping up and, I believe, it is the best (IWMF), the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press – time to launch your journalism career and throw your hat in the these are just a handful of the scores of journalism and media ring. Amid the esoteric headlines screaming “alternative facts” organizations that exist worldwide. They all do good work toward and the oxymoronic “fake news,” today’s reporters are serving as defending press freedom and it may be out of your pocketbook or the Trump Administration’s punching bag, and in some cases, schedule to join all of them. Many offer student discounts to join they themselves are feeding the frenzy. A new generation needs to so if you’re even a few year’s out of college, now is a great time. pick up the reins and continue the legacy of journalism, the tenets Take one afternoon in front of your computer with a cup of cof- that the profession sits on: questioning authority, holding govern- fee, and peruse each of these worthy organization’s websites and ment and those in power accountable and asking the hard ques- decide to support at least one this year. tions. We need you now more than ever. Here’s some humble Sure journalism is tough in terms of the workload, the pres- advice: sure, the hours and schedule, but if you’re a true reporter and Find the jobs. If you’re a recent college grad boasting a jour- things like ledes, active voice and writing headlines are in your nalism degree yet whining there are no jobs like those available to blood, then you know that the profession is right for you. Don’t your counterparts with humanities and social sciences degrees, let your parents, guidance counselor, friends studying business or then you’re in the wrong profession. A true reporter is out there anyone else downplay your passion. Now is not only a great time digging, mining, pawing and pushing until the jobs surface. But to choose the profession, it’s necessary. you don’t even have to get your hands dirty these days. Hundreds (yes, hundreds) of online portals list jobs. Just today, March 29, I did a search at The Wall Street Journal (a Dow Jones company, “It is the role of good journalism to take which is owned by NewsCorp), and 21 media jobs appeared, on powerful abuses, and when powerful including copyeditor, reporter, photographer and producer. And those are positions just in New York City; WSJ has bureaus abuses are taken on, there is always a bad around the country. If you can deal with working for Rupert Murdoch, there’s a place for you to consider. reaction.” – Julian Assange of WikiLeaks How about ProPublica, the independent news organization that does investigative pieces? They too are hiring: Web Producer, Jennifer Karchmer is an independent journalist who covers freedom Engagement Reporter, Senior Editor, Data Reporter. Don’t forget of the press and volunteers with Reporters Without Borders defend- about the obvious social media sites like LinkedIn, where I engage ing and protecting journalists who work in dangerous regions. She with companies directly, find recruiting managers and see job list- is the producer and writer of “The Transparency Report with ings all the time for reporting and writing. We all know Facebook Jennifer Karchmer,” and owns and runs Over the Shoulder is great for posting birthday wishes for your cat and pictures of Editorial. Karchmer taught journalism, newswriting and communi- your favorite dessert, but I’m finding freelance, part-time and cation at Western Washington University for eight years. She can be remote reporting jobs in FB groups dedicated solely to journalism. contacted at [email protected]. 16 grassroots editor • spring 2017 Need for confidential sources likely to increase By DAVID GORDON State courts are a different matter. Every state except Wyoming now provides some form of protection for journal- President Donald Trump’s repeated denunciation of ists who protect confidential sources. Most often, this is news reports that utilize anonymous sources has thrust the through so-called “shield laws” which exempt journalists whole question of protecting journalists’ confidential sources from having to reveal confidential sources in specified cir- into the limelight yet again. cumstances. It’s not a new topic. The first conflict that I’m aware of However, the wording of those laws varies from state to concerning the protection of source anonymity occurred in state, and is subject to interpretation by the courts. This has 1848! Since then, the topic’s prominence has ebbed and led over the years to differing results, even including several flowed. instances of reporters being jailed for contempt of court in Journalists, though, have consistently stood by their states with shield laws on their books. promises not to reveal the identity of sources to whom they Journalists argue the benefit to society of protecting con- promised protection in return for information. These usually fidential sources who provide them with information that’s were news sources who feared retribution of some sort but key to a story and which they otherwise couldn’t obtain. It’s who nonetheless – with that promise of confidentiality – a strong argument, though it ignores any judgment about the were willing to provide information that in many cases could- importance of the story being reported. For example, the n’t be obtained elsewhere. first case to raise (unsuccessfully) the argument for First The legal system generally has demanded that journalists Amendment protection, in 1958, involved a libel suit by Judy be treated no differently than any other citizen whose testi- Garland over a story quoting a confidential source who mony can be compelled when the system needs it. called Garland – in essence – fat and over the hill. Journalists, though, usually asserted they had an ethical if not Garland needed to know the identity of the source in a legal duty to protect the identity of people to whom they order to proceed with her suit. The reporter refused to pro- had promised confidentiality. vide the name, and spent 10 days in jail for contempt of At the same time, journalists repeatedly argued that they court. It wasn’t exactly an earth-shaking example of societal should have legal protection against being held in contempt benefit from First Amendment protection for confidential of court and jailed for their refusal to identify confidential sources. sources. Until the 1970s, however, that argument was almost Fortunately, most subsequent instances of reporters pro- always a losing one. tecting confidential sources have grown out of stories of Some journalists were in fact jailed for refusing to iden- greater public importance. And with the Trump administra- tify a confidential source, although it was rare for jail time to tion’s frequently-demonstrated antipathy both to transparent last more than a week. In 1970, though, the editor of an government and to the news media, and the passion it directs alternative paper was sentenced to six months in jail for against leakers of information (a passion shared to some refusing to tell a grand jury the source of an article about the degree by the Obama administration), it wouldn’t be surpris- four bombers of a University of Wisconsin-Madison building, ing to see a high profile case involving a confidential source and he served his full sentence behind bars. in the near future. More recently, Judith Miller of The New York Times There have been numerous efforts, dating back to 1929, spent 85 days in jail in 2005 for refusing to identify the to convince Congress to pass a shield statute that would source who told her Valerie Plame was a CIA agent. apply in federal courts. SPJ has been in the forefront of sev- In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear its first eral of the recent efforts which, so far, have failed. I’d much journalists’ privilege case, which involved testimony sought prefer First Amendment protection to a federal shield law, in grand jury investigations. In Branzburg v. Hayes, it ruled 5- but given the current and likely future makeup of the 4 that there was no First Amendment protection for confi- Supreme Court, an extension of the Branzburg precedent dentiality – i.e., for a key part of the news gathering process seems unlikely. – when grand jury testimony was demanded. The Branzburg But even if Congress were to pass a federal shield precedent denying First Amendment protection has since statute, it shouldn’t be regarded as a panacea. First, the lan- been applied in many if not most federal court criminal cases guage will be hard to craft and could easily leave ambiguities where claims of confidentiality have been raised. as to exactly when the statute applies and who is covered. In federal civil cases, however, a formula taken from (One strong argument against such a law is that it gives the Justice Potter Stewart’s Branzburg dissent has at times – government the power to define who is and isn’t a journal- though not always – been used to uphold claims of confiden- ist.) tiality for sources. Journalists and their sources thus can’t be Second, any such law is subject to interpretation by the sure whether legal protection for confidentiality exists in fed- courts and, over the decades, there have been some very eral courts for their specific situation. CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

17 grassroots editor • spring 2017 restrictive interpretations of state shield laws. Third, protec- been the emergence of a qualified (rather than absolute) First tion that’s granted by a legislature can be modified or abol- Amendment privilege for reporters to protect their confiden- ished by subsequent legislatures. And, finally, with the prolif- tial sources in civil cases in federal courts, although this trend eration of new media platforms and channels to reach audi- was tamped down somewhat after a 2003 opinion by an influ- ences, new technologies are likely to outstrip whatever statu- ential federal judge in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. tory language might be aimed at them. As events move forward in 2017, the need for reporters If a legal shield for confidential journalist-source relation- to rely on confidential sources to report on the federal govern- ships were to be established either in a Supreme Court exten- ment and, more specifically, on President Trump, seems like- sion of First Amendment protection, or via federal statute, the ly to increase. This would almost certainly lead to increasing protection almost certainly would not be absolute. It would demands by the White House for the identity of those sources most likely follow the formula outlined in Justice Stewart’s (“leakers,” if you will), which could well result in legal con- Branzburg dissent that supported First Amendment protec- frontations. tion for journalists appearing before grand juries (and, in the What seems equally certain is that reporters will continue process, criticized the majority opinion as a “crabbed view of to protect the identity of sources to whom they have promised the First Amendment [that] reflects a disturbing insensitivity confidentiality, with or without First Amendment or statutory to the critical role of an independent press in our society”). protection. That has been journalists’ ethical stance for near- Stewart argued that journalists should have First ly 170 years, and President Trump’s tirades against the media Amendment protection for their confidential sources unless are not likely to change that. the government could meet all parts of a three-pronged test. This stance, though, would be strengthened immeasur- He said the government should have to show: 1) “probable ably if – some day – the legal system comes to understand cause to believe that the newsman has information that is that First Amendment protection for the dissemination of clearly relevant” to a violation of the law; 2) “that the informa- news logically implies similar protection for the gathering of tion sought cannot be obtained by alternative means less news and, therefore, for the protection of confidential destructive of First Amendment rights; and 3) that there was “a sources. compelling and overriding interest” in obtaining the informa- tion. (Italics added.) David Gordon is president of the International Society of That test has been used subsequently by many lower Weekly Newspaper Editors and a professor emeritus of com- courts – primarily in civil cases – to determine whether claims munication and journalism at the University of Wisconsin- of privilege should be upheld or denied. The net result has Eau Claire. He can be contacted at [email protected].

18 grassroots editor • spring 2017 REVIEW: Local Journalism in a Digital World

Authors: KRISTY HESS AND LISA WALLER they represent, they suggest, maybe an active participant in Reviewed by ANGELA LONG their community, maybe even an advocate. Many local jour- nalists are already doing such things. It’s no secret local media sometimes gets dismissed as They cite examples from Jock Lauterer’s Community “fluff” where articles about penny raffles and blind therapy Journalism: Relentlessly Local where a photographer “views dogs make front page news. Well, according to two senior himself as a community member lecturers in communication at Deakin University in first and a journalist second.” Australia, it’s high time that They delve into The Newtown changed. Bee’s coverage of the massacre “For too long, local at Sandy Hook Elementary media has been considered School in Connecticut in the ‘poor cousin’ in scholar- 2012, where the editor choos- ly literature about journal- es to focus on rebuilding com- ism,” Kristy Hess and Lisa munity and remaining posi- Waller argue in Local tive. Journalism in a Digital World. Another thing to ditch? The authors, both former The “rose-tinted” view, journalists, spend nearly 200 steeped in democratic-theo- meticulously-researched pages ry, that the press has a dem- proving that all levels of jour- ocratic function. Our image nalism have something to learn of the “hard-nosed reporter from local media, both on a the- who will stop at nothing to oretical and practical level. uncover the truth” – the And, most importantly, the reason why some of us authors hold firm to what they wanted to become jour- call their “simple yet steadfast nalists in the first place – belief that in a global world, local may need some re-exam- journalism matters.” ining. Sorry, Spotlight To do this they examine sev- and All The President’s eral theoretical lenses through Men, but Hess and which journalism is usually Waller argue that even viewed. For those of us who balk though reporting mira- at terms such as convergence theo- cles do still happen, ry, this chapter may prove challeng- we’re simply too broke ing. But the authors guide us along to fund them. until they arrive at the newly coined Resources are being “media power approach.” Here they stripped. Journalists delve into concepts of community, are more and more definitions of local, and sense of deskbound. They place. After much ado (which quote former journal- includes homage to sociologist and ist and Director of anthropologist rock star Pierre the Scholars Bourdieu’s habitus), they basically Program in Culture say, yes, local news is about place but and Communication place isn’t what it used to be. Place at the Annenberg School for now includes an ever-growing realm of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania Barbie social spaces (think Facebook). Zelizer. “Democratic-theory may have passed its shelf life,” What’s a local journalist to do within this space? It she says. depends. Ditch the objectivity, the authors suggest (a sticky Luckily, it’s not just about democracy. This is where the concept they say public journalism scholars have been authors tell us something extraordinary in an increasingly debating for decades). Such suggestions form part of a larg- apocalyptic media landscape: We have more power than we er goal – to revamp what journalists traditionally hold dear realize. Yes, we may be “myopic and narrow” at times, but and re-evaluate how we practice and define local journalism. who isn’t? Yes, there is that pesky “dark side” of local media Maybe the journalist should be more a part of the society CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

19 grassroots editor • spring 2017

– those stories that exclude “outsiders,” for example, such edit), hyper-local publications, curated user-generated con- as minorities and people with disabilities. But, Hess and tent – the terms of the future depend upon understanding Waller argue, local journalism has the power to educate, the power of what the authors call the “greatest social bridge divides, prevent divides, create awareness, celebrate change since the Industrial Revolution.” The shift to a digi- diversity. All this emphasis on objectivity and democracy tal world hasn’t just affected journalism, they argue, it has may be preventing us from realizing our true power: The transformed the fundamental routines of daily life. Hence, power of place. To read the local paper is what they call a the formula for staying afloat in the world of local journal- “place-constituting” activity. It’s an activity that develops ism “cannot be bottled and measured in a test tube.” local knowledge and connects readers to communities in a This is a new world in need of a new set of rules, the way nothing else can match. It’s an activity dependent on authors suggest. Rule number one? Stay right where you are, professionals with local knowledge and the skills to dissem- roots “firmly embedded in the geographic soil where under- inate such knowledge. standings of the ‘local’ are nurtured through media.” Hold The authors travel throughout the world to show us that fast, local journalism. If Hess and Waller have anything to do the power of place exists from Ireland to Papua New Guinea with it, the rest of the world will soon be on its way. to El Salvador to Turkey. They discover dozens of countries who share a common “intimate relationship between local Angela Long is a master’s of journalism candidate at Ryerson news and notions of community.” They also discover com- University in Toronto. Since 2000, her multi-genre work has mon struggles to cope with the impact of digitization and appeared in publications such as Utne Reader, the Globe and the “business” of local news. Which brings us to the uncom- Mail and Poetry Ireland Review. In June 2016, she moved to fortable question of how to actually stay in business. Haliburton, Ontario for a three-month stint as a “summer Unfortunately, Hess and Waller can only provide us reporter” at the Haliburton Echo – an award-winning, small- with more suggestions, not answers. Start-up enterprises, town publication in the heart of cottage country. She can be “multi-reporters” (who can do everything from code to copy contacted at [email protected].

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