Toto, I don’t think we’re (just) in Kansas anymore How U.S. community newspapers are serving as a model for China By Jock Lauterer ...... Pages 1-7 Community crisis and community newspapers: A case study of The Licking Valley Courier By Elizabeth K. Hansen and Gary L. Hansen . . . Pages 8-12 Before bloggers there were ploggers (print loggers): Community journalism correspondents By Beth H. Garfrerick ...... Page 13-18 Mr. and Mrs. John Doe announce the engagement of…: A study of the decline in reader-submitted content in four Eastern Kentucky community newspapers By Deborah T. Givens ...... Pages 19-24 Using social media to report the news: The good, the bad and the ugly By Maria Raicheva-Stover and Robert Burkett ...... Page 25-26 Press freedom: Keep an eye on Iceland By Jennifer Karchmer ...... Page 27 Reporting health: Rural newspaper coverage of health in Kentucky By Al Cross and Sarah Vos ...... Pages 28-32

volume 53, no. 3-4 • fall/winter 2012 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 Toto, I don’t think we’re

Editor: Dr. Chad Stebbins Graphic Designer: Liz Ford Grassroots Editor (just) in Kansas anymore (USPS 227-040, ISSN 0017-3541) is published quarterly for $25 per year by the International Society of Weekly How U.S. community newspapers are serving as a model for China Newspaper Editors, Institute of By Jock Lauterer International Studies, Missouri Southern State University, 3950 East Newman Road, Joplin, MO 64801-1595. Periodicals post- Introduction age paid at Joplin, Mo., and at June 2012 additional mailing offices. Slathered with SPF 30, I am sitting in a beach chair, gazing out east into the calm Atlantic where the rollers POSTMASTER: Send address changes gently spill onto Long Beach, Oak Island, N.C. to Grassroots Editor, Institute of During this quintessentially American family beach week (19 adults, 11 children in two houses from International Studies, Missouri Southern California to New York) my sunburned body rests here seaside in N.C., while my mind, memory and thoughts State University, 3950 E. Newman Road, race east — or is it west? — 7,000 miles to the other side of the world. Joplin, MO 64801-1595. It wasn’t until I began editing the thousands of photographs that I began to get the big picture on this summer’s Volume 53, Issue 3-4, Fall-Winter 2012 Fulbright to China. Subscription Rate: $25 per year in From my 1998 fellowship at National Geographic I remember the sight of Nat Geo photographer Lou the United States and Canada; $28 per year Mazzatenta working in an editing room surrounded by thousands of slides spread out on light tables around him. elsewhere. His job that day: to cull/edit all his shot down to just 60 images, the “golden tray” as they called it, what with the old slide tray’s holding five dozen. Officers of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors So as I got down to my golden tray, the narrative began to unfold like captions beneath still images, frozen moments from the Middle Kingdom in a state of dramatic societal flux. President: Cheryl Wormley The Woodstock Independent So let us begin with the Foreword, written for Professor Chen’s book, which will set up the narrative. Next, Woodstock, Ill. we’ll hear from Prof. Chen herself describing the book’s significance. Following, we’ll meet Prof. Li Ren and learn about the magic of live-Skypeing between our classes. Then we’ll slip into the “China Journal” I kept dur- Vice President: Kelly Clemmer ing my Fulbright to China, and wrap it up with the dramatic developments that have occurred as a result of the Star News Inc. initiative. Wainwright, Albert

Executive Director: Dr. Chad Stebbins, Director, Institute of Note: The following Foreword is addressed directly to Chinese journalism students as well as to media profes- International Studies, Missouri Southern sionals. State University, 3950 E. Newman Road, Joplin, MO 64801-1595 Phone: (417) 625-9736 Foreword Fax: (417) 659-4445 When I inform my students that 97 percent of all U.S. newspapers are small* newspapers, they are invariably E-mail: [email protected] surprised. Some are openly skeptical. Like most Americans, they subscribe to the stereotype that the American newspaper landscape is dominated by only the big-city daily newspapers with spacious offices on the top floor Board of Directors: of some urban skyscraper. And perhaps the Chinese reader will also hold to this simplistic notion. But as you Steve Bonspiel will read, in the United States, nothing could be further from the truth. Small newspapers, which we call “com- The Eastern Door munity newspapers,” are the heartbeat of the country. They are located in practically every village, hamlet, small Kahnawake, Quebec town — and even in some cases, urban neighborhoods. Whether they are weeklies in the state of Maine, twice- Dave Gordon weeklies in North Carolina, or even dailies in California, they all share a common, often unspoken purpose — Professor Emeritus, beyond being merely profitable: to TELL the LOCAL news, to SERVE the community and to help BUILD that University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire community by instilling, nurturing, reinforcing and encouraging a “sense of place.” We call this “community- Paul MacNeill building,” and the local media is the primary engine driving that train. The Eastern Graphic Montague, Prince Edward Island Gary Sosniecki Our beginnings: country weeklies TownNews.com, Moline, Ill. As you doubtless realize, the U.S. is a very young nation. Certainly compared to a Chinese culture that Andy Schotz stretches back 5,000 years. A mere 200-plus years old, our country is a baby! But out of that “newness” grew a The Herald-Mail new form of media. Remember that the European settlers of the 1600s found this land to be a vast wilderness. Hagerstown, Md. And as exploration and development moved from the coasts into the interior, small farming and market towns Barry Wilson sprang up. These “start-ups” were not unlike new businesses: someone had to be the leader, or leaders. And very Asset Media Services often among the vital institutions and facilities that town leaders deemed absolutely necessary would be a home- Kiama, NSW, Australia Immediate Past President: * According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, newspapers with print circulations below Kris O’Leary 50,000 are defined by the industry as “small newspapers.” The Star News Medford, Wis. 1 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 town local newspaper! about the most basic of American cultural and journalistic tenets, “What is the Cody, Wyoming, is the perfect model. When legendary cowboy “Buffalo Bill” meaning of this?” she would ask — forcing me to think critically and to articulate Cody built the town in the 1800s, he proclaimed that the first establishments built clearly the very foundations of my culture and profession. in his new town would be a school, a hotel, a bar and a newspaper! To this day, Many times, as we struggled to communicate effectively, we would both realize Buffalo Bill’s newspaper, the Cody Enterprise, thrives. the chasm of cultural differences that lay between us. But always, humor provided These so-called “country weeklies,” many of which were started in the 1800s, the bridge — and we learned to laugh about the American professor speaking developed, grew, were bought and sold, merged and evolved quietly, out of view “Chicken,” while the Chinese professor was speaking “Duck.” We were both of the big city major metro press and mainstream journalism academics — until “birds of a feather,” using the same words, but those words weren’t having the the late 1950s when a seminal book was written that changed the landscape. same meaning. Community Journalism, written in 1960 by Ken Byerly, a former country weekly It was as if our communication challenges served as a metaphor for the larger editor/publisher turned university professor, changed the way we thought about issue — that of our two home nations, the U.S. and China — attempting to make so-called “country newspapers.” Byerly was the first author/scholar to delete sense to, and of, each other. Sometimes succeeding and often failing, but always “country” and substitute the word “community” to brand and to differentiate the trying. style of journalism — distancing community journalism as a concept, style and Through all our discussions and debates (some quite heated!) I came to realize practice that was wholly separate and apart from “big-city journalism.” Byerly was and appreciate the fact that American community journalism could not simply be also among the first to grasp and articulate the “sense of community” as being vital overlaid or beamed down or “cut and pasted” onto China…but that China would to the newspaper’s raison d’etre — vital to its core mission. From the ‘60s through have to examine and dissect our “best practices” and then adapt, adopt, modify, the ‘90s and until 2001, American community newspapers multiplied, grew, mold and shape a version of community journalism that will be wholly and thor- thrived and flourished. Only the events of 2001 and the subsequent recession have oughly Chinese. Again: the Chinese Way. slowed that growth. But even in the economic downturn, community papers weath- ered the economic storm far better than their big-city media cousins. North Carolina as an American laboratory So now, as a new age dawns, community journalism is once again resurgent. Ironically, the slow demise of the major metro daily has led to a new respect and As a result of my book, I was able to organize in 2005 a national cadre of 200- desire for all things local. So we have this expression, “What is old, is new again.” plus like-minded university professors from across the U.S. who study, conduct And community journalism in the U.S. is now widely accepted and respected, both research and teach community journalism. That has led to speaking engagements in media and academic circles alike. in half of the states in America. This exposure entitles me to say: I have studied community papers all across my country, and can attest that the North Carolina newspapers that Professor Chen studied serve as a perfect laboratory, a representa- From the newsroom to the classroom tive sampling of and for U.S. community newspapers in general. In many ways, my own professional history reflects the trajectory of U.S. com- And finally, a word about Professor’s Chen’s level of scholarship. I can promise munity journalism over the last 50 years. Educated in college by Professor Byerly the reader that her multiple interviews with key personnel from each newspaper and inspired by great local community newspaper editors in my college hometown, she studied were thorough, comprehensive, in-depth and at times exhaustive. In at the age of 24, I launched the first of two community newspapers. After 15 years fact, through her hard questioning of editors and publishers, she uncovered facts of hard and rewarding work, I sold my interests and turned to the classroom, where about my state’s newspapers of which even I was unaware! I now teach community journalism, produce two lab newspapers and nurture the state’s 181 community newspapers from a center at my university’s school of journalism and mass communication. So I am a community newspaper editor/ To the future publisher turned professor. I have seen all sides of both the newsroom and the I am excited about the future of China and about the growth of community classroom. In 1993 I wrote the first edition of my book, Community Journalism: journalism in your country. If for no other reason than China’s sheer size, it is thrill- the Personal Approach, because Ken Byerly’s original book needed and deserved ing to contemplate the positive impact that community newspapers could bring to to updated and expanded. My book, now in its third edition, titled, Community such a dynamic nation. Thus I commend the groundbreaking work of Professor Journalism: Relentlessly Local, was published in 2006. Chen; it is my humble opinion that this pioneering field guide will serve as a first- I am often asked, “Why don’t you do a new edition?” of-its kind roadmap for students and editors wishing to explore the wonderful, challenging but ultimately rewarding world of community journalism. It has been I reply, “Because of China.” my honor to share a small role in this journey. I will be watching with great anticipation. The Chinese way — Onward and upward. When, in 2008, I first heard that a Chinese scholar was interested in studying Jock Lauterer American community journalism, I was not particularly surprised. After all, my Chapel Hill, N.C. book had been translated into Romanian and Korean — so why not Chinese? But what did surprise me, and pleasantly, was the level of scholarship, vision and USA intensity that Associate Professor Kai Chen brought to her project. Although I am almost old enough to be Professor Chen’s father, it became A message from my Chinese colleague to the NC publishers immediately clear that I would be the student as well. Soon after we began our she interviewed studies together in August 2009, I would learn the term “the Chinese Way,” which quickly led me to realize that a literal translation of my book would never work for Associate Professor Chen Kai China. Even as my Chinese visitor plunged into her case studies of a dozen excel- Communication University of China lent North Carolina community newspapers, she was subtly instructing me, incul- Beijing, China cating me, acculturating me into Chinese history, customs, philosophy, politics, Spring 2012 thought, culture and social mores. It was as if I spent one entire year in China without ever leaving the United States! I want to thank every interviewee for being patient with my every question — If you want to see your world in a totally different light, try looking at it through stupid or smart — since I strongly believed that the Chinese newspaper industry the eyes of someone from another world. As we toured my home state, visiting the would benefit from those interviews. best community newspapers for her study, I found myself being asked repeatedly It seems to me that the significance of the book lies in two aspects. 2 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

First, from the perspective of Chinese professional newspaper people, by read- He is the author of “Community Journalism: Relentlessly Local,” 3rd. Ed, and ing the book they can learn the detailed operational practices of excellent and most recently was the project manager for Prof. Chen Kai’s groundbreaking 2012 successful American community newspapers. As I told many of you, there is a void book, “An Introduction to Community Newspapers in the U.S.” in China when it comes to Community Newspapers. Many Chinese editors told me, after reading the book, they have gotten a lot of inspiration from the content. A game of hoops. With the help of the book, the Chinese newspapermen who I’ve spoken with say Day one, Wednesday, May 16, 2012 they now realize the gap between the two styles of journalism, — and that there is actually a lot of room for improvement on their part. The familiar sound of a basketball bouncing on concrete — the last sound I ever expected to hear on the first morning in China. Secondly, in a broader sense, I do hope the book will make people realize the significance of community journalism relative to community-building. In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the first sound you may hear in the morning is the holy man calling the faithful to prayer. In Mexico City, the first thing you may hear One student told me the book changed his stereotype of capitalism, and that he is the mournful cry of the newspaper peddler calling “El Sol!” wished he could live in a community, (like the American communities I visited). Remember, “community,” is a concept that is foreign to the Chinese. So on how comforting to be 7k miles away from home and hear something so homey, and then to watch a father and son laughing competitively over a simple Community-building is a buzz term in China recently, however, the Chinese game of hoops. people have only vague idea about what a “community” should be like. China is like that; from what I can tell so far, a complex contradiction, a meshing Therefore the book was just published at the right time. Hopefully, in the long of the ancient and the outrageously new; of zoomy new buildings towering over a run, Chinese people will benefit from my research and the generosity of your time. wizened old man peddling a dusty bicycle cart. My very best wishes, Last night I wrote about my adventurous arrival here: — Prof. Chen Kai (Karen) So it is a quarter of four in the morning in Beijing, where I arrived at midnight, too happy and jazzed to sleep here, quaffing some quite acceptable local vino, and A game-changer set up with my Mac in the International Scholars Hotel here at Communication U. The January 2012 publication of Professor Chen’s pioneering book attracted the of China. When I arrived here in BJ at the immense, modern sprawling airport, my attention of important Chinese media professionals and scholars. Chinese colleague missed me, and there was an anxious hour of me wandering Li Ren, associate professor and assistant dean of the School of Journalism and around the expanse watching Chinese incoming passengers being joyfully Communication at Southwest University of Political Science and Law in embraced and showered over, while I wondered what the heck I was doing here, Chongqing, contacted me in February, after having seen an excerpt from Prof. with no Yuan and no Mandarin, and a phone number for my contact that seemed Chen’s new book. to be invalid. I felt very alone, different and sweaty. Professor Li had a bold plan: he wanted to take the existing campus newspaper Then I put on my journalist hat, along with my anthropologist hat, and talked and shape it into a community paper; and he wanted my help, as well as input from myself in off the ledge; it was quite a lovely experience, watching those tearful and Prof. Chen. joyful reunions there at the arrival gate, as if I had been beamed down from the We began Skypeing on a regular basis, and soon realized how beneficial it planet Xorax to study these things on this planet in this particular country called would be to collaborate more intensely. That, in turn, led to the notion of having China...and soon, a solution came to me, and I was able to navigate an airport free our respective classes begin regular Skype sessions. phone and connect with my host, who, it turned out was only 100 yards away, but lost in the hordes of happy comers and goers. “Stay this moment,” is what Sam Last spring — in spite of the 12-hour time difference — we were able to pull off Abell would say, and so I memorized that delicious moment of knowing I had two live Skype sessions between our students, which as far as I can tell was a conquered my fears, figured out the puzzle of being the alien, and knowing that in historic first in our academic circles. a couple of seconds, Order had Been Restored. My students loved it. “First off,” writes senior journalism major Tyson Being lost like that, with masses of Chinese staring at me: a tall, skinny, bald, Leonhardt, “I think it’s cool we even have the ability to hold a live chat with a class white guy…will stay with me for some time. It’s good for every citizen of the on the other side of the world. And second I think it’s awesome someone is decid- world to push the envelope of his or her comfort zone. For only there, across that ing to teach a community journalism class where the kids actually produce a com- bright line, is there growth. I can only imagine what our forebears must have felt munity paper when the community is 10 times, or more, the size of ours here in queuing up at Ellis Island. Chapel Hill.” “Lauterer? What kind of name is that?” Senior journalism major Kelcie Landon writes, “Hey Jock and Prof. Li, I wanted to thank you both for orchestrating the community journalism Skype ses- Well, I suppose I should try to go to sleep, so that tomorrow I will not entirely sion last night. It was a really valuable experience to be able to meet students from embarrass Tar Heel Nation. across the globe who are interested in the same things we are.” Junior journalism major Kevin Collins reflected, “I’m so glad I could be a part Friday, May 18, 2012 of the China Skype session! Every now and then, something happens that reminds Last night’s lecture was a complete blast and success, by anyone’s standards. me what a crazy time I’m growing up in. That was pretty much all I could think First I should say that I also met with two of Prof. Chen’s frosh English classes, for about during the Skype session. Technology is bringing the world together, and I two hours, and did my very best there too. The first one was small and responsive; don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more concrete example of that than last night.” the second one larger and guys tried to hide out in the back and become invisible, much like UNC. Are we not the Family of Man? Mr. Joke goes to China I told them all about the differences I had noticed between our cultures — that, The book also propelled me into a Fulbright lecture trip in May 2012. During and the similarities — all the time hitting the theme of How Alike We Really Are, that transformational event, I blogged at my J-school’s site in my “Blue Highways how we may be different but we are More Alike Than We Are Different. Again, the Journal.” Those entries follow under the heading “Mr. Joke Goes to China,” so- Family of Man. And Woman. named because of a host at one workshop who could not pronounce “Jock” and Then to the main event last night, my intro to Community Journalism in the U.S. repeatedly called me “Mr. Joke.” So be it. Curiosity is alive and well here, after all. The classroom held about 60 under- UNC senior lecturer Jock Lauterer spent two weeks in China as a Fulbright grads who dressed much like American college kids, and they were for the most Senior Scholar, giving lectures and leading seminars at three Beijing universities. part attentive, responsive and acted like they were genuinely interested and down- 3 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 right fascinated at times with the big bald American with the bright red tie and his In fact, today’s encounter has inspired me to re-title this whole adventure as MR. crazy ideas. JOKE GOES TO CHINA. I tried to tell them about the strength of community newspapers in the U.S., how these smaller papers had weathered the recession and in many cases were thriving, Enter stage right: The 600-pound gorilla and that these papers were NOT vanished at all. In fact, there were so many start- Wednesday, June 23, 2012 ups going on in the U.S., that no one really has a handle on those numbers. From the very get-go, this Chinese Community Journalism project has been I think I’ll call it the community newspaper “birth spiral.” Or how about the bedeviled by the tacit issue of press freedom — or more accurately, the lack community newspaper “birth watch.” thereof. And they broke into spontaneous applause when I read a greeting message writ- So while I want to a gracious guest and not insult my hosts, how can we speak ten by Ken Ripley, one of the publishers featured in Prof. Karen’s book. of great journalism at any level without confronting the issue head-on? Here’s what Ripley told me to read aloud to the Chinese journalism students: At my back I hear old Walter Lippmann cheering me on: “A free press is not a “Dear Chinese friends — for that is how I view all fellow journalists no matter luxury, but an organic necessity of a great society.” what country — I am excited that you want to learn about — and what we do in Tonight at the prestigious J-school of Tsinghua University, to a room full of America. So much has changed in recent years. The technology. The business 60-plus bright Chinese kids, the gloves came off. model. The expanded means of communication made possible through the Internet. Even my small newspaper in a small town is affected by these changes. I began by telling a true story of meeting a Sudanese professor during a 2008 But one big thing has not changed and I hope never changes — our mission is to flight to Ethiopia. In complete surety, she blamed the Western media for fabricating help our community, whatever size it may be, to see itself as it is and as it can be; the controversy over Darfur. She assured us that the alleged genocide in Darfur was to be a positive force for good on behalf of all its people; and to be a channel of trumped up and entirely manufactured by mainly the U.S. press to make Sudan honest information and open discussion through which caring people can deter- look bad. When I asked why she believed this to be true, the professor replied mine their own affairs and the civic life of their community no matter what kind of brightly, “Because my government tells me so.” government they have. As you begin, or continue, to practice your chosen journal- Enter stage right: the 600-pound gorilla. ism profession — big city, little town, internet blog — I hope you will love what As I finished this story, I couldn’t help but notice the level of tension had risen you’re doing, and, if you love the people you serve, great things will be ahead in precipitously in the lecture hall, as if everyone was holding his or her breath, and your future. You may or may not make much money, but you will be rich in all the that my hosts were becoming increasingly agitated. The door to the lecture hall was ways that count. Best wishes from Spring Hope, North Carolina.” — Ken Ripley discretely shut, and I was told, please move on, this topic is too sensitive! Too After the presentation, I was besieged for autographs and business cards. There sensitive! is hope! Left feeling like a rock star. But the students would have none of it; they had come to hear the truth. I walked to the back of the room where a clutch of student newspaper leaders Into the deep end were taking notes. “Why are you going into communications?” I asked, standing Today, however, was another matter: “We have met the enemy, and he is us,” just feet away from the row of amazed students. “Why do you want a career in comic strip sage Pogo Possum was supposed to have said famously. journalism?” and I pointed tone young man at random. He piped up right away without hesitation: “It’s interesting — and…” then he paused to think, “I want to So today I met the — I won’t call it the “enemy” in the classical fighting sense make a difference!” — but I surely met the opposition. “You don’t want to become rich and famous?” I asked playfully, referencing the At a conference arranged today (billed as exploring the growth and development fact that I’d learned earlier — how many kids at CUC want to be rich and famous of the community press in China), I was the guest of honor, out-of-town “expert” TV anchors. and star witness for the defense. My job was to make a case for bringing commu- nity journalism to China — and making that case to a table full of high powered He grinned and replied that that would be OK but that it probably wouldn’t hap- big media folks who were skeptical in the least and resistant for the most part to the pen. Everyone laughed, and the oxygen returned to the room. notion. “So you want to make a difference, do you?” I challenged. And by the time two One publisher from a large paper in a city south of Beijing listened impassively hours had passed we had covered the waterfront — from our cultural differences and then responded with a straight face that he thought government control of the to the First Amendment, prior restraint, censorship, the importance and vitality of media was absolutely a good thing and totally necessary to maintain order in the the community press in the U.S., the impact of the Web, right down to how to society, otherwise society would be in chaos. Furthermore, his paper was making improve their campus newspaper by making it more “relentlessly local.” lots of money and he saw no need to change their news balance to local. When the lecture was over, I was again surrounded by eager young Chinese kids Besides, he added, people don’t care about their local government. wanting my business card and autograph, and a little face-time with the ol’ per- fesser. At that, I had to gently take off the gloves, and say something pretty outrageous about freedom of the press and the need for an informed citizenry, which I know I left the lecture hall thoroughly spent, both emotionally and physically, but also fell on deaf ears. deeply satisfied. Driving me back to my campus quarters, my host professor encouraged me to stay, and if I couldn’t do that, he encouraged me to return again I doubt I made my case very successfully, for everything had to be done by soon. His final words are burned into my memory. tediously, by translation, one sentence at a time: I talked, Prof Chen translated, I talked some more, Prof. Chen translated again, and so forth. As we drove through the darkened campus, he said, “China needs you.” Meanwhile, across the table the grim-faced big city metro publisher just stared at us. Mr. Joe vs. the volcano But on the positive, in the background, behind the editors, sat their underlings, Friday, May 25, 2012 mostly younger women — and they were SMILING at us, and nodding their heads Remember that old Tom Hanks classic movie, “Joe Versus the Volcano?” Today in agreement. I met the Chinese version of our film hero — and this case the “volcano” is the And the best part about the whole thing was that the moderator kept referring to challenge of making a community paper work in China. me as “Mr. Joke.” Which, after today, is about how I feel. Because if you want to Is the launch of community journalism in China such an unattainable idealistic do something this risky and bold, you better have a thick hide and a sense of humor. fantasy?

4 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

Zhou Chen doesn’t think so. “Mr. Joe,” is the editor (tantamount to the Around the square in a clockwise flow, the hundreds of dancers moved in aero- American role of publisher) of the New Peoples’ Evening News, an experimental bic rhythmic gyrations, smiling, sweating in the morning sun and clearly loving it. community newspaper in Shanghai. The enthusiastic newspaperman attended my For the life of me, I found the seniors in the park today to be one of the best lecture at Tsinghua U. and won the hearts of the students when he made his impas- examples of camaraderie, togetherness and fellowship I’ve seen in any city setting sioned case for his paper and its mission of community-building. anywhere in the world. And I found myself thinking: Who says “community” “Mr. Joe gets the connection between community journalism and democracy,” doesn’t exist in China? my host explains. Then an odd thing happened. Suddenly I noticed a handful of Chinese profes- That’s half the battle right there. sional-looking photographers taking photos of ME! My host noticed too, warning So many Chinese have asked me: “What is the meaning of the community me, “American journalists are regarded as dangerous here — because you always newspaper?” Mr. Joe already knows. His paper is, of course, government-spon- say bad things about China. That is the opinion of our government.” sored like all newspapers, but what sets it apart is its local content. That and the fact It also seemed to be her opinion — and perhaps with good reason. Once, during that the government is watching closely to see if Mr. Joe can pull it off. If he suc- her year of study in the U.S., a local reporter asked her point-blank if she was happy ceeds, that would make him a real trailblazer for other visionary idealistic editors. living in China. “Idealism is a luxury China cannot afford,” one Chinese scholar tells me. But “Why not?” she responded, offended that the American journalist assumed she another far-sighted editor thinks otherwise, “There are too few idealists in China,” led a miserable existence in China. said Yang Chi Yang, editor of the journal, Media. “That’s why,” she explained to me, “I wanted to show you…happy China.” No wide-eyed tenderfoot, Mr. Joe strikes me as the right mix of hard-ball prag- matism and idealistic expertise, willing to take risks to make his unique paper Last lecture at CUC work. Saturday, May 26, 2012 The issue, as always, is press freedom and government control of the media. The government restricts the number of newspapers by requiring each to apply for a During my two weeks in China I gave eight lectures — and saved the best for “number,” aka a license, from the government; and then if the paper’s content last. Or I should say the best was saved [underline]for me [endunderline]until the doesn’t reflect the government line, the government can and does sack the editor last. My third of three presentations at the Communication University of China and or individual reporters. Talk about a chilling effect. Additionally, each day local (CUC) attracted a loyal cohort of 16 kids, most of who attended the first two talks governments send to the media a list of story topics that are off-limits. Talk about and wanted more. prior restraint! After telling the story of how Prof. Chen’s new book came to be, I opened the Now you get what I mean when I talk about Joe Versus the Volcano! floor to Q and A, and their questions were heartbreakingly sincere and naïve: Sitting eye to eye across the table from Mr. Joe, barely an arm’s length away, as • “When you say ‘community’ what is that?” I listen to his excited staccato Mandarin coming directly at me, it’s as if I CAN • “How can we report when we might get fired for what we do?” sense what he’s saying — even before my host translates. For after all, do we not • “ How do you in the U.S. get your government permit to start a newspaper?” both “bleed ink,” Mr. Joe and Mr. Joke? • “Do you think China needs community newspapers?” How appropriate is it then, that Zhou Chen is coming to N.C. later this summer, • “How much local news is too much local news?” not just to see his daughter Kate, a freshman at Davidson, but also to visit one of And my personal favorite: “How can I start my own community newspaper?” North Carolina’s great community papers. Publisher Bill Horner III of the Sanford Herald has graciously agreed to host the Chinese editor — and I can’t wait to be I finished by reading them an e-mail I received earlier this week from my there to witness the event and share in the experience. Chinese colleague, Prof. Li Ren of Chongqing, who wrote wisely: “How I wish I could have attended your discussion with those bright young students. I agree with The beat goes on. you that press freedom is fundamental to community journalism. Although com- munity journalism presents something small, it’s just the essential to build and hold I want to show you happy China democracy in a small/and any community. The basic goal of my work here in Saturday, May 26, 2012 Chongqing is actually to help build a strong and healthy awareness of public par- The most surprising thing I saw in China — not that Tiananmen Square or the ticipation from the local people living in a community. I am afraid it’s the other side Great Wall weren’t amazing — was at the Park at the Temple of Heaven where my of press freedom.” host took me early this morning to “watch the old people doing funny things.” Then Li concluded, “I agree with the teacher’s remark that China needs you. I had no idea what she meant by that, but went along because Prof. Karen has What I want to add is that China needs more of its own Chinese teachers who can been consistent when it comes to surprising me. What I saw was a demonstration take actions to deal with their own problems.” of the fitness craze that has enveloped the elderly population of China. Keying on that last thought, I ended the lecture by telling “my kids” that China There, in an immense green space (like a Beijing version of Central Park), we needs….THEM! And I can see in these bright eyes and eager faces that my seeds witnessed thousands upon thousands of retirees participating in dozens of different have landed on fertile ground. physical activities. Here’s a smattering of what we saw, old folks working out on * * * outdoor gym equipment, stretching, doing calisthenics, playing board games, danc- Earlier I had passed around my journal, inviting each of them to write me a ing, doing Ti Chi, playing badminton, engaging in a four-square kicking game like quick personal “Hey, Jock,” note expressing their reflections. By the amazed and our “hacky-sack” except the average age of the senior athletes looked to mid-60s. delighted looks on their faces, no professor had ever done that for them, had ever I repeat thousands. And it is a daily spontaneous outpouring of therapeutic P.E. asked THEM individually to reflect, to be recognized as individual human beings, that does on, not just here, my host tells me, but in parks in every city across the worthy for who they were without question or condition. land every morning, regardless of the weather. I also asked them to pose for a class photo, and I got their email addresses and Well, no wonder I’ve seen no fat old people. If they’re not walking or biking, send out the picture, which also made an impression on them. here working out! These two weeks have been like pouring water on parched desert ground and For instance, at one open area, an antique portable tape player blared raucous watching the flowers bloom. As a conclusion, you can judge for yourself if seeds regional folk music for a throng of elderly participants, many in colorful tradi- weren’t planted. Here’s a sampling (many signed with their English names): tional garb, who were engaged in Tibetan folk dances. “Dear professor, I’ve received your e-mail and I’m really very happy. All I want

5 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 to say is THANK YOU. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. Thank you forever indebted to her. for your sincere care to us Chinese students beyond national borders. Your aca- And when I think of the future of Chinese community journalism, I see “Mr. demic passion and personal charisma touched me deeply. Actually, you taught me Joe” and remember his enthusiastic rapid-fire Mandarin directed right at me, as if so much in that wonderful class....I will always keep you in my mind and pray for his passion could transcend any language barrier. you in China. On the last night in Beijing, the pollution abated, allowing a pale quarter moon — Your Chinese student, LiuKecen to float between the zoomy downtown skyscrapers. Twenty-four hours later I am back in Chapel Hill, in the good old US of A. And this evening, as I slipped back “You have opened a window for us,” wrote Lou, followed by, “I’m interested in into my routine — mowing the lawn, taking out the garbage, picking up the mail CJ. And I have learned lots of knowledge from your lecture. I’m looking forward — something bright overhead caught my attention. to keeping in touch with you, my dear professor.” There in the Carolina blue sky, floated the moon. The very same moon that “I do believe that your lectures have broadened my mind,” writes Crystal, who floats over Mr. Joe of Shanghai, Mr. Han of Cuandixia, Xin Xin and Prof. Chen of adds, “I’m waiting for more.” Beijing, and “my students” at Renmin U., Tsinghua U. and the Communication Sheena wrote, “You have inspired me to think twice about the existence of com- University of China. In that brief instant, 7,000 miles of physical distance and munity newspapers.” 5,000 years of cultural difference melted away. Grace wrote, “What you introduced to us has really given me a sense of review- May “Mr. Joke” always keep that vision of the same moon. For does it not shine ing my major as a responsible person.” on us all? “I cherish your lectures a lot,” wrote Adam, a serious-looking lad who sat in the So here’s to next year in Shanghai, or Chongqing, or even Beijing again. There same front row seat for all three lectures. “What you have left me is not only a is much work to be done; and this little foray was but a beginning. description of journalism, but also details about American democracy and the way As Dean Emeritus Richard Cole has taught us to say: U.S. citizens live their lives.” And after the first class, he spoke with me in private, “Onward and upward!” asking what kind of GRE and TOEFL scores he needed to get into grad school at * * * UNC! Back home again, and the circle will not be broken Liu Chang wrote: “Dear Prof. Jock, Thank you so much for giving us such Tuesday, June 12, 2012 wonderful lectures for last 2 weeks and opening a window for us to let the sunshine in. I will always remember what you said in the class that China needs us to change How entirely fitting that this summer’s 12th annual Community Journalism and everyone can make a difference. Although after the second class I went to you Roadshow with a Chinese connection in the Old North State. and seemed very (depressed) when talking about problems in China, I still hold Today China comes to the U.S. bringing the Chinese-American Community Hope in my heart…” and she closed with, “At last, keep hope alive!” Journalism Project comes full circle. I am hosting Zhou Chen, or “Mr. Joe,” of the Xinmin Evening News of Conclusion: Under one moon Shanghai, on a visit to Publisher Bill Horner III and his Sanford Herald, a Paxton Media Group daily community paper, featured in Prof. Chen Kai’s new book on Sunday, May 27, 2012 great NC community papers (An Introduction to Community Newspapers in the “Life must be lived forward, but understood backwards,” wrote Swedish phi- U.S.). That’s how Zhou heard about my lecture series in Beijing in May — and losopher Soren Kierkegaard. how he learned about the Sanford Herald. And so it is with an experience like this. I have attempted to put pen to paper, Remember “Mr. Joe” flew all the way from Shanghai to Beijing just to meet me fingers to keyboard, to faithfully record the events and narrative of my two brief back in May! And how we connected so thoroughly, even though we had to com- weeks in China; a quick window into an ancient culture in a vast land in dramatic municate via translator — we both knew, we both “bleed ink.” flux. Zhou is visiting his daughter, Kate, who just graduated from Burlington That I succeeded in any way in a bit part of that that larger play as a walk-on Christian High School as an international exchange student, living with a host fam- supporting character is due in large part to another community — a community of ily in Whitsett. N.C., just east of Greensboro off I-40. Kate, fluent in English after friends and colleagues. having studied in NC for two years, will translate for us on this adventure. I have to first thank the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright program for fund- ing this trip and seeing the rightness of the project. My own school, led by Dean Thursday, June 14, 2012 Susan King, former Dean Jean Folkerts and Dean Emeritus Richard Cole, all encouraged me to pursue this project. Headline: Mr. Joe to Sanford! A huge success with daughter Kate, who is a delightful kid, translating so effortlessly — and Publisher Bill Horner III going way In my home state of North Carolina, I must acknowledge the generous dona- beyond just being hospitable, spending three hours with us, answering all of Zhou’s tion of time and expertise made by caring and dedicated community journalists that many detailed questions — and then taking us and a crew of Heralders, including led directly to my adventure in China: Robert Dickson of the Carrboro Citizen, fave Editor R.V. Hight, ad director Gina Eaves and circulation director Jeff Ayers Kevin Schwartz of the Daily Tar Heel, Mark Schultz of the Chapel Hill News, out to lunch for more substantive talk. Charles Broadwell of the Fayetteville Observer, Bill Horner III of the Sanford Herald, David Woronoff and Steve Bouser of the Pilot of Southern Pines, Ray What a day! McKeithan and Brownie Futrell of the Washington Daily News, Ken Ripley of the Back at the paper office, Zhou bore down, asking more pressing questions of Spring Hope Enterprise, Megan Ward of the Shelby Star and Alain Lillie and Bill, as Zhou seeks to establish his newspaper in Shanghai as more successful Courtney Price of the Carolina Weeklies Group of Charlotte. pioneering model for China. His paper really is a beta site and he thinks the In China, a host of academics shouldered the task of making my stay productive American community paper success story has lessons for him. while comfortable — notably, I must express gratitude to Xin Xin at the At the end of the day he invites Bill and me to Shanghai next summer for more Communication University of China for the hospitality she extended me. Of talk, perhaps even a conference on community journalism. How cool is that? course, without the hard work and dedication of my partner, Assoc. Professor Chen I was particularly gifted to be able to spend one hour down and back conversing Kai, none of this would ever have happened: her study trip to N.C. in 2009-2010 with my new pals: Mr. Joe in the front seat and daughter Kate in back, leaning that resulted in “our book,” and the Fulbright to China — were all due to her vision forward between us, translating our chatter with ease. and dogged determination to introduce Community Journalism to China. I am It was on the return trip to Greensboro, while brainstorming, that we came up

6 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 with the notion of setting up a Sister Newspaper Exchange between Zhou and Senior Lecturer Lauterer will serve as initial Executive Director for the first two Bill’s respective newspaper groups. years, with Profs. Chen of CUC and Li of SW University of Chongqing serving on So while today could have been just a “one-and-done,” instead now it’s turning the board of directors. Then, the directorship rotates to Prof. Li, followed by Prof. into one for the ages. Chen. When I asked Bill what his take on the experience was, here is what he sent back: Goal “’Delightful’ doesn’t begin to describe the time with Mr. Joe and Kate during The goal of CCJSP is to serve as a Chinese community journalism incubating their visit here with Jock. Mr. Joe’s earnest enthusiasm for finding out how news- center, to examine, conduct research on, and encourage the development of com- papering works for us, along with Kate’s buoyant translation, was energizing. munity journalism in China, to compare the commonalities or similarities and dif- There was both a genuine interest in understanding how things work “over here” ferences of community journalism between China and the U.S., and even the rest and a realistic expression of the parameters under which Mr. Joe was bound to of the world, to train young and promising journalists and reporters of interest to operate back home in China. The differing languages, culture and perspective serve their communities better, to cultivate the awareness of importance and neces- didn’t dampen our time together, but rather gave life to it. It was an exhilarating sity of individual citizens to take part actively in local public affairs for a healthy experience. and democratic society. Immediately after they left, we were all talking in our shop about how enjoyable it’d be to do it again — and soon. Jeff, my circulation manager, told me later in the Accomplishments to date afternoon that he’d love to have “just a day” to spend talking to Mr. Joe about • The aforementioned scholars from the three universities have formed an infor- marketing newspapers and reaching potential readers. mal strategic partnership, based on their common interest and scholarly pursuits, We’re not sure what’ll transpire next, but knowing that Kate will be in college and have been in close contact since February 2012 concerning the growth and nearby, and knowing Mr. Joe’s keen interested in Professor Karen’s book, has us development of Community Journalism in China. The visit of Fulbright Senior hopeful for more time with Mr. Joe in the future.” Scholar Lauterer to three major Beijing journalism schools in May 2012 served as Bill Horner III a catalyst for the launch of this initiative. Publisher, • Live Skype sessions for community journalism classes in Chongqing, China, Sanford Herald, Sanford, N.C. and Chapel Hill, N.C., USA, were initiated this spring, with great success, and will be continued this next academic year — and expanded to include students in Onward and upward Beijing as well. Since I returned from my Fulbright to China in May 2012, China has never been • The Huixing Journal, a community newspaper, was launched in June in far from my mind. As I got over jet-lag and began to adjust to daily life at home Chongqing. This campus-based newspaper targets mainly about 50,000 local resi- again, I couldn’t shake the feeling: Clearly we are on to something big here. dents living in a neighborhood of 4 square kms. This on-site experiment in I wasn’t the only one feeling like that. Last week I received an exciting pro- Chongqing is being conducted by Prof. Li, along with his students, with the encour- posal from Prof. Li Ren, my Skype partner the School of Journalism and agement, advice and mentoring from Profs Chen and Lauterer. Communication at Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing. Objectives 2012-2013 Prof. Li writes, “I am thinking about setting up a Community Journalism Study • To have more people in China to hear the voice of Community Journalism and Team at my university here in Chongqing in case I could seek some funding from to support this initiative. We propose the formal creation of a China-US commu- my school and strengthen the study of community journalism. So far as I know, nity journalism consortium in which our three universities form a strategic partner- Community Journalism is not a mainstream field in J-study in China. The leading ship to nurture the growth of community newspapers in China. Chinese scholars ignore it, and the media professionals mainly look upon it solely • Profs Chen Kai and Li Ren are seeking opportunities to invite media profes- as a tool means to make more money…I sincerely hope that that you and Prof. sionals from such publications as the Shanghai Journalism Review and Chongqing Chen can join and support me.” Evening Newspaper to take part in further study and discussion in China. Prof. His notion is to explore ways Profs Li, Chen and Lauterer could set up a strate- Lauterer is working on his end to secure the blessing of his J-School. Our immedi- gic partnership between our three universities to study, research and support the ate goal is to host a seminar to promote Community Journalism in China by the development of community journalism in China. summer of 2013. With that success, our project will strive to hold regular annual As this paper “goes to press,” that is exactly what we are doing. An early draft workshops and seminars on the growth and development of community journalism of Prof. Li’s proposed U.S.-China community journalism consortium follows. in China.

Proposal for the Launching of Jock Lauterer is director of the Carolina Community Media Project in the School China Community Journalism Study Project (draft) of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He can be contacted at [email protected]. This paper was pre- sented at the “Newspapers and Community-Building Symposium,” co-sponsored Overview by the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas State CCJSP is a grassroots-initiated project open to academics, journalists and report- University and the National Newspaper Association and the NNA Foundation at ers, and other professionals of interest from the United States and China. It is the NNA’s 126th annual convention in North Charleston, S.C., Oct. 5, 2012. launched in 2012 by Li Ren, the 2007 IFP fellow and associate professor from Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing, China; Jock Lauterer, senior lecturer and Fulbright Senior Scholar to China from the University Professor Kai Chen was made a complimentary member of the ISWNE by of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, U.S.A.; and Chen Kai, associate professor from Executive Director Chad Stebbins in March 2012. Missouri Southern State Communication University of China, Beijing, China. University and the Communications University of China have been partner institu- tions since 2004, when Stebbins attended CUC’s 50th anniversary celebration. CCJSP is centered in Chongqing at Southwest University of Political Science Kai Chen (Karen) can be contacted at [email protected]. and Law, with two other research centers, one at CUC in Beijing, and the third at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill, USA.

7 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 Community crisis and community newspapers: A case study of The Licking Valley Courier By Elizabeth K. Hansen and Gary L. Hansen ally ended up at their son’s camper on the other side of the county that night because “there was no place else to go.” The next day, their daughter was able to reach them “That little old paper IS West Liberty.” and take them to her home in Berea, Kentucky, 100 miles away. — Charlie Conley, 69, lifelong resident of Morgan County, Kentucky Newspapers and community “Speaking of and for Morgan, the Bluegrass County of the Mountains” The tornado caused a crisis for the 4,000-circulation Licking Valley Courier, its — Front-page slogan appearing below The Licking Valley Courier nameplate staff and its community. Such a crisis brings the nature of often unspoken and tak- en-for-granted relationships to the surface and makes them visible. What we know The Licking Valley Courier staff had wrapped up its work for the week on Friday about newspapers and their relationships with the communities they serve suggests afternoon, March 2, 2012, and left the newspaper’s office building located just off this should be the case for the Courier and West Liberty. Sixty years ago Janow- Main Street in West Liberty, population 3,345, the county seat of Morgan County1, itz (1952) viewed newspapers as an institutional mechanism by which individuals Kentucky. Earl W. Kinner, Jr., 73, the publisher and editor of the 101-year-old are integrated into their residential community. A generation later, Stamm noted weekly, had gone to his home across the street from the newspaper his father pur- in Newspaper Use and Community Ties: Towards a Dynamic Theory (1985:11), chased in 1944. His son, Gregory Kinner, the paper’s production manager, was at “Few truisms are as firmly established in mass communications — communities home next door. News Editor Miranda M. Cantrell, 28, was at her home five miles are necessary to newspapers, and newspapers are necessary to communities.” In the outside town.2 present case, both the newspaper itself and the community experienced a disaster As the afternoon wore on, weather forecasters broadcast ominous warnings for and were in crisis mode and each may play a significant role in the other’s recovery. large areas of Kentucky and surrounding states. Only two days before, a tornado One of the most intriguing explanations of why local news and information mat- had touched down in southern Morgan County, damaging three small communities. ter comes from Freidland (2001), who developed a theory of the communicatively Earl Kinner, whose wife had died in the summer of 2011, was tracking the integrated community. According to Freidland, community is necessary for democ- storms. Just after 6 p.m. he heard the meteorologist say the most damaging tornadic racy to work but the overall opportunities for any given community are limited activity in the United States that day was in the Morgan County area. Kinner headed by its location in larger political and economic systems. However, the structure for the basement door. Just as he reached it, an EF3 tornado demolished his house, of communication in any community explains a great deal of the remaining vari- trapping him in the rubble. His son’s home next door was damaged beyond repair. ance in a community’s capacity for democratic action and its capacity to respond to The Courier building was destroyed along with most of downtown West Liberty. events. This means communication is the key to community resiliency in a time of The tornado left a 60-mile-long path of destruction in Kentucky. It swept crisis. Given the lack of alternative sources of local news in small communities like through the heart of West Liberty, damaging or destroying the hospital, an elemen- West Liberty, this suggests the newspaper plays a critical role in the community’s tary school, the 105-year-old Morgan County Court House, City Hall, the WPA- ability to take action and, eventually, recover. built building housing the Community Center, two 100-year-old churches, most of A recent “state-of-the-discipline” analysis by Underwood and Frey (2008) the downtown businesses and numerous homes. The twister also destroyed several examines how community and its relationship to communication have been con- outlying communities, killing six Morgan County residents. ceived in communication research. The authors note two communication perspec- In seconds, much of the Courier’s community was gone. tives on community, both of which highlight the significance of communication to community life. The transmission perspective views communication function- After the storm passed, rescuers pulled Earl Kinner from the rubble of his home ing as a tool to accomplish particular community goals. In contrast, the constitu- and one of them carried him to the damaged-but-still-standing City Hall a block tive perspective focuses on both how communication creates, or is constitutive of, away where a temporary shelter had been established. He was later moved to a community and how it maintains community. Research by Heider, McCombs, and shelter in Elliott County. His son and grandson “survived by inches” when the tor- Poindexter (2005) on what the public expects from local news suggests the public nado hit their home, Kinner said. Cantrell’s home was not in the path of the tornado itself recognizes the importance of local media for community life. Above all, the and was undamaged. public wants a news medium that cares about the community, highlights interesting The Kinners’ narrow escapes were similar to what happened to many West Lib- people and groups, understands the local community, and offers solutions to com- erty and Morgan County residents. Among them were Charlie and Martha Conley munity problems. Some of these (i.e., caring about the community and offering so- who took refuge in the basement of their West Liberty home with their son, his lutions to problems) may become particularly salient in the wake of a crisis. There fiancée and her daughter, and their grandson as the storm moved the house sev- also is evidence that local media provide residents more than information during eral feet off its foundation, tore away the basement stairs and ripped off the roof the impact phase of disasters. They also provide emotional support and companion- (Gardner, 2012). After the storm passed, the Conleys and the others climbed out of ship (Perez-Lugo, 2004). the basement using a ladder their son had found. Their five-year-old grandson had While unacknowledged by many journalists in routine times, the above discus- been cut on the head by a falling cement block. Three of the four vehicles parked sion suggests that the journalism practiced by local newspapers can be seen as com- in the driveway of their home had been demolished. They tried to drive the fourth munity development, which is defined as the promotion of solidarity and agency vehicle to the hospital to get help for their grandson. “We drove across yards and (Bhattacharyya, 2004). (Solidarity is the essential characteristic of community and downed power lines, boards with nails. Three of the tires flattened,” Charlie Con- the purpose of development is to produce agency.) Evidence that a crisis brings ley recalled. “We thought we could get to the hospital — we didn’t realize how this role to the forefront comes from Usher’s (2009) study of how journalists at the bad the town was.” They turned back and then tried roads out of town but found New Orleans Times-Picayune view the role of a post-Katrina newspaper. These them blocked by trees and downed power lines. Martha Conley said they eventu-

8 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 journalists both saw their role as “objective” recorders of events complicated by Following a public meeting at the high school the afternoon of March 7, which their personal experience and saw the newspaper as an “advocate” for the city. she covered, Cantrell posted this bit of news on the Facebook page: We now look at how The Licking Valley Courier responded, both immediately “From the ashes we will rise, because brighter days are ahead. West Liberty and longer-term, to the tornado and how members of the community, in turn, re- won’t look the same... But it might look even better than before.” sponded to the Courier. — Judge Executive Tim Conley

After the storm − the first week She also told those who were reading the Facebook page they could expect a As the discussion above suggests, community newspapers often serve dual roles hard copy of the Courier soon: in their communities — objective source of news and community advocate. Never I won’t be posting updates tonight or tomorrow because I will be writing a are those roles more apparent than in a crisis situation. And never is a community full recap of this afternoon’s public meeting for the next print edition of the newspaper more a part of its community than when it, along with its community, paper, and I will be going to Mt. Sterling with my co-worker to oversee the experiences tragedy. layout and printing of the paper. I encourage you to continue posting your When the tornado stuck West Liberty and the Courier, the staff’s dual roles were own updates and to leave your personal thoughts about the disaster, as well as apparent. For a few days, the staff was consumed with helping their neighbors and pictures. I thank you and I hope I have helped you get some of the information themselves. Earl Kinner was evacuated to a shelter in another county where he that you need. THE LVC WILL BE THERE TO COVER IT WHEN MOR- spent several days before he was taken in by his son’s in-laws. Cantrell volunteered GAN COUNTY RISES AGAIN! ♥ at a shelter in a school near her home for three days. Although they, like their neigh- On March 8, the paper’s regular publication day, Cantrell posted her full story bors were in shock over what had happened, neither forgot their roles as community about the tornado that would appear in that day’s print edition of The Licking Valley journalists. And although communication among staff members was difficult, they Courier and gave followers updates as the paper was produced: soon began working toward a common goal: informing their community and reas- We are at The Mt. Sterling Advocate waiting for the LVC to be printed! suring it that West Liberty would survive. Followed by: Cantrell said it took a few days to clear her head but as she saw people posting questions on Facebook and reporters from other papers kept calling her for infor- THE LICKING VALLEY COURIER IS ROLLING OFF THE PRESSES AS mation, she decided she needed to find a way to get information out to her com- WE SPEAK! WE DID IT!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!! munity. Unable to contact Kinner for permission, four days after the storm Cantrell Also on March 8, Cantrell posted something she had first expressed four days set up a Facebook page for the paper, which had never had an online presence. In earlier on her personal Facebook page: her first post on March 6, she wrote this about the page: “A town is not its buildings - but the PEOPLE in it. Those buildings are gone, I am setting this page up as a place to share information for tornado coverage but the PEOPLE are still standing. WE are West Liberty. WE are Morgan when the newspaper returns. Please post any news, pictures or impressions County, and our home is still the greatest place in the world. When the smoke you wish to share. This will help the LVC staff a LOT when we are operating clears, we WILL rebuild our town. Today we are all friends and neighbors no again. Thanks! matter where we may be scattered. Let’s all stand strong to help others and She also posted this message on the page itself: get this county back in its feet. I LOVE MORGAN COUNTY AND I LOVE YOU ALL.” − LVC Reporter/Columnist Miranda M. Cantrell {3/4/12} Please share any tornado-related news, pictures and impressions! This will help The Licking Valley Courier staff SO MUCH when we get our newspaper The March 8 paper was only one day late. On the morning of March 9, Cantrell running again! posted a photo of herself and the newspaper advertising manager as the Courier rolled off the press in Mt. Sterling the day before. She wrote: Thanks My co-worker Ricky Adkins and I with the special tornado edition of The Miranda M. Cantrell Licking Valley Courier... It was one of the proudest moments of my life when Reporter/Columnist I saw that press rolling our papers after our office was destroyed. This is Almost immediately, people began using the page to distribute news about disas- newspaper is still a piece of our community that the storm couldn’t take away ter relief, funeral arrangements for storm victims, status of local businesses, video from us, and I am so honored to be a part of it. Thank you all so much for of the tornado, photographs, and requests for information about individuals and your support. ♥ businesses. Cantrell also posted several pictures of the devastation in West Liberty Although the Courier staff was able to salvage its circulation and business re- as well as some messages of encouragement and hope. For example, she passed cords from the ruins of its office, getting the paper to its 3,000 readers in the county along a message of support for emergency service workers, but added a personal after the storm was difficult. (Another 1,000 papers are mailed to out-of-county message: subscribers.) Recognizing distribution of the paper was going to be an issue with so How about we all give a big round of applause to all our friends at the fire many of the businesses that sold the paper destroyed and mail delivery disrupted, department, police department, sheriff’s department, state police, ambulance Cantrell posted: service and so many other emergency service agencies... These people have Hey everybody, I don’t know where the print edition of the LVC is being sold been working non-stop since Friday night and so many of them are my per- at this morning. But I am sure you could definitely find it at Cougar Corner or sonal friends. We love you guys and hope you will be home with your fami- IGA. Subscriptions will be mailed out. Thank you so much all your support! lies soon! She also revealed she had not seen her boss since the tornado until after the paper People also almost immediately began posting messages of support for the page was printed: itself: Mr. Kinner was just at my house... First time I have seen him in person since Genius Miranda!! Good idea for this site! Almost as good as having our paper the storm. I can’t begin to tell you what a good feeling it was to present him back....ALMOST! with this week’s edition of The Licking Valley Courier. It was one of the proudest moments of my life. Here’s what he said to me: I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for everything you are doing with sharing information. At times like this, one of the most important things is “You’ve proven how good you are... Now you have to keep it up.” for people to have accurate information given. What you are doing is critical Looks like I’m gonna have to work harder to live up to such high expecta- and vital to the recovery and rebuilding of Morgan County. Keep up the good tions, but I’ll do my best. :) work! Cantrell may not have asked Kinner’s permission to start the paper’s Facebook 9 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 page, but in an interview in July 2012 Kinner said he was “forever grateful” to her a place where community members drop in to share news, place an ad or buy a for doing it. paper. In the meantime, Earl Kinner was also working to get the Courier out. While still in a shelter, Kinner found pen and paper and began writing by hand a story about Recurring emphases/themes the tornado. Later he was taken in by relatives who lived 10 miles from town and A number of significant emphasis areas or themes have appeared in the Cou- had no cell service. But he was determined to get the paper out because “people rier after the first post-tornado issue. First, the paper included stories and provided rely on it.” information about itself. For example, the March 15 issue noted how equipment Matt Hall, the publisher of the Mt. Sterling Advocate where the Courier and problems were causing problems for the Courier and ran a front-page photo of the Kinner’s other two papers, the Wolfe County News and the Elliott County News, Morgan County Judge-Executive holding up the newspaper, as discussed above, as are printed, came to Kinner’s aid. He drove to the home where Kinner was stay- “a sign of the town’s resilience.” It also reprinted a Lexington Herald-Leader article ing and together they planned how to get the papers out. (Later he helped Kinner “West Liberty Newspaper Rises from Rubble.” Five weeks later (April 19) and in a choose $15,000 worth of equipment for the Courier’s new office.) With no office in lighter vein, a folksy “Publisher’s Pen” column commented on how tornado news- which to work, the staff worked from home or other locations and communicated paper debris was found miles away and returned to the paper. Another example through advertising manager Rick Adkins. Kinner later said in an interview, “With comes from the April 12 issue of the paper in which the Courier announced its (Cantrell’s) ingenuity and Ricky’s ingenuity and my desire to survive,” we got the return to its previous location in downtown West Liberty and thanked the com- paper out.” munity for its help. As Cantrell chronicled on the paper’s Facebook page, the Courier was published A second emphasis was obtaining assistance and recovery. For example, the the week following the tornado. While actually appearing a day late on March 9, March 29 issue included a story headlined “Historic Courthouse, WPA Building 2012, the first issue of the Courier after the tornado carried the regularly sched- to be Preserved,” the April 5 issue included stories on rebuilding the antique mall uled publication date of March 8. Smaller than the previous issue’s 16 pages, this as an environmentally friendly “green” building and a Tennessee firm seeking to eight-page edition featured Cantrell’s front-page story about the disaster as well as build homes, and the April 12 edition featured a front page story headlined “Zoning multiple stories on the tornado reprinted from other newspapers in Lexington and Commission to Plan the City’s Reconstruction.” In addition, the April 19 edition Morehead whose help was acknowledged on the front page. As Kinner said in a included drawings depicting what Main Street reconstruction could look like and later interview, other newspapers were in a “better position” to provide coverage the May 3 issue included stories headlined “Football Field to Stay in Downtown than the Courier. The March 8 issue also included information on where banks had West Liberty” and “Church to Rebuild but Famed Windows Can’t be Replaced.” A relocated, what was operating at original locations, and contacts for applying for full-page story in the April 26 edition headlined “The Many Lives of a Small Town: disaster funds. The paper also included a front-page photo of publisher Earl Kin- A Brief History of Tornado-Struck West Liberty, KY” put community recovery in ner’s demolished home and told readers about the paper’s new Facebook page for historical perspective. Written by Joe Nickell, the Courier’s historical writer whose obtaining and sharing information. column has provided historical sketches for more than 20 years, the article reviews Community reaction to the appearance of the Courier was immediate, with the the establishment of West Liberty, describes previous disasters (fires) and what they most notable example coming from Morgan County Judge-Executive Tim Conley destroyed, and discusses what can be saved after the current disaster and why it is who, during a news conference on March 9, held up a copy of the paper and cited important to do so. The Courier also published information on deadlines for ob- it as “a sign of the town’s resilience.” In a similar vein, West Liberty’s Commercial taining disaster assistance and weekly updates on the county’s long-term recovery Bank CEO Hank Allen was quoted (Brashear, 2012) as saying, “It didn’t matter team. what was in it. It was still alive and still living and breathing, and it gave the com- Finally, a third emphasis was the return to normalcy. For example, the March munity hope that we could recover.” 29 edition of the Courier included a story on community events and activities that Other reactions were posted on Facebook and included the following: would be held as originally planned, and the regular community bulletin board and Picked up my first copy of the LVC post tornado and was impressed that so “community correspondent” reports returned. While not heralded as such, the re- much info got in with such a short time till press time and with the LVC build- turn of 4-H and local sports stories in the April 5 issue and a story on attending prom ing unable to house the paper and its employees at the time. With this kind of in the April 26 edition also represented a return to normalcy. This theme continued fortitude in this town we will recover in no time! well into the summer. Examples from the June 28 issue include a front-page story Read my first copy of the LVC post tornado. Hope Earl and Greg are well. with the headline “Tradition to continue: July 4th celebration downtown as usual” Looking forward to some “normal” things in the paper, I can’t believe I’m and a sports story “65 days and counting until home opener at Herdman Field: saying this but some pictures of huge turnips and deformed potatoes would Talented Cougar football team should provide therapy for rebuilding community.” be welcome right about now!!! Remember, as I’ve seen many times before Morgan County Extension Agent Sarah Fannin (2012) believes the Courier’s ----”Speaking of and for Morgan County, the bluegrass county of the moun- mere presence “provides us with a sense of normalcy” and explains it by saying, tains” ! Go forward LVC!!!!!!! God bless and here’s hoping you find many “The newspaper is such a vital part of our town and county for old and young. Just many many simple and sweet stories of calm and everyday boring things, we like going to the Freezer Fresh (also rebuilding) for a cherry Sprite and barbeque all need some of that kind of thing right now....just some normal everyday sandwich, you go get a newspaper after church on Wednesday night in Morgan happenings. County.” Letters to the editor published after the tornado expressed both reader apprecia- After the storm − the second week and beyond tion and support for both the newspaper and its staff. Examples from the March 29 issue include: Without an office in West Liberty, the Courier staff worked out of the Mt. Ster- ling Advocate’s office, about an hour’s drive from West Liberty, to produce the Dear Editor, Please renew my subscription. Can’t wait to read more about paper for approximately a month. Then they moved back to West Liberty into a tornado experiences such as written by Linda Oakley in the March 15 issue. temporary office, which sits on the site where the Courier’s office stood before Thanks… the storm. Basically a double-wide trailer configured as office space; it was still Earl, I was glad to hear you were not injured. I’m so very sorry about your in use in August 2012. It sits on what remains of the concrete and tile floor of the home and business. My office next to Peyton’s Pharmacy survived intact for destroyed building and includes production space for Kinner’s three newspapers the most part. If you’re able to keep The Courier going, count me in with you. in one corner and a circulation area in the rear. Back issues of the paper published Have Miranda get with us when she can to let us know your plans. Keep the since the tornado are piled near the front door. Against a rear wall is a dresser, the faith and stay strong… only piece of furniture salvaged from Earl Kinner’s home. The office is once again Dear Editor, It was simply wonderful to receive The Licking Valley Courier 10 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

the first week after the tornado — Thank you! Sorry for your loss… are fewer places to sell the paper. Historically, most of the Courier’s local adver- tisers have been small businesses and shops, some of which are now gone. The Facebook Courier also lost its job printing business, which had paid a salary. While it won’t last indefinitely, there have been larger amounts of some types of advertising since In the weeks following the tornado, the Facebook page continued to provide the tornado with banks and other businesses announcing “we’re back” and outside news about the recovery, links to other news media reporting on the community’s contractors offering their services. When it comes to the relationship between a recovery and, at times, breaking news, such as this post from Cantrell on March 12: community and its newspaper, Kinner says, “Any town with any spunk in it will Hey everybody, I am sorry I haven’t been able to post today, but I have been have a pretty good newspaper.” very busy... I DO have some GREAT NEWS THOUGH: According to the Kentucky State Police there are NO additional tornado- Conclusion related deaths in Morgan County besides what was listed in last week’s paper (the Cecils, the Endicotts and Mr. Dulin). NO ONE died in West Liberty city As expected, the tornado, which physically devastated both West Liberty and limits! THANK GOD. The Licking Valley Courier’s facilities, laid bare the integral ties between communi- ty and newspaper that are often less obvious during normal times. Interviewed four Cantrell also reported on what was happening with the newspaper itself. On months after the tornado, Courier reporter Miranda Cantrell commented, “People March 15 she posted: didn’t realize how much they liked us until they thought they wouldn’t have us.” The Licking Valley Courier office has been razed. I drove by there this after- Charlie Conley, whose quote “That little old paper IS West Liberty” introduced this noon and ruins of the building were gone. Very sad, as I have worked out of paper and whose March 2 experiences are recounted above, and his wife Martha that building for almost a decade... But it’s like the old saying goes, “Every continue to live with their daughter in Berea, Kentucky, a hundred miles from West new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” That is how we Liberty, while their home is rebuilt (Gardner 2012). They read the Courier every have to look at this devastation − not as an ending... But as a new beginning. week when it comes in their daughter’s mail. Martha says she can’t wait until Fri- And on March 28: day when the paper arrives and Charlie says reading the Courier, “Keeps me want- The press is rolling the LVC at this moment. Three sections this week. We will ing to go home, I want to associate with the people there again. If it were not for be late getting back to West Liberty with it tonight. the paper, I would not have a connection to the town and county.” Such a response Five months after the tornado, the Courier’s Facebook page was still active. demonstrates the paper’s creation of community solidarity. Combined with the fact The “About” section of the page reads: “Covering the news of Morgan County and the Courier was providing the information necessary for people to act (producing providing updates regarding tornado recovery and community events.” Posts in agency), this clearly illustrates why the type of journalism practiced by the Courier early August included notices about storm and flood warnings, information about constitutes community development. the grand opening of the new fire station, teasers for the current issue of the Courier The experiences of the Courier staff in the aftermath of the tornado were in and questions and comments from members of the community. As of early August, some ways similar to and in other ways different from those Usher (2009) identi- 1,116 people had “liked” (are following) The Licking Valley Courier page. When fied among New Orleans Times-Picayune staff in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. interviewed, Cantrell acknowledged that, in addition to providing information, she Like the Times-Picayune staff, the Courier staff saw the newspaper both as an “ad- uses Facebook to help people “stay positive,” which she admits is sometimes hard vocate” for the city as well as an “objective” recorder of events and they clearly to do herself. did both. What is different from the Times-Picayune example is the fact that the Courier’s “advocate” role wasn’t hidden before the disaster. In many ways, the newspaper embraced it. Miranda Cantrell was quoted after the storm as saying Earl Lessons and reflections from editor/publisher Earl Kinner Kinner told her it’s the Courier’s responsibility to promote the community and the The March 2 tornado was not the first disaster Earl Kinner has faced as publisher people in it and that’s what they always tried to do (Brashear 2012). Whether in- and editor of the Courier. The Courier’s building burned to the ground in 1985. At tended or not, the Courier’s slogan “Speaking of and for Morgan: The Bluegrass the time, the Courier was the last letterpress newspaper in Kentucky. Just as the County of the Mountains” (emphasis added) seems to acknowledge the importance Mt. Sterling Advocate helped the paper this time, The Paintsville Herald, then the the newspaper places on both recording community events and advocating for the Courier’s printer, “took us in that time,” Kinner recalled. After the fire, Kinner built community. a 3,000-square-foot metal building to house the paper’s office, new offset produc- The Courier provided information about itself and its staff after the tornado. It tion equipment and a job printing operation. The tornado destroyed that building. described, in both words and pictures, the devastation of the newspaper’s facilities When asked, Earl Kinner provided a few suggestions for other editors and pub- and Earl Kinner’s home, the equipment and other problems the paper was encoun- lishers who may find themselves in situations similar to the one he has experienced. tering, and progress that was being made towards getting the paper out. The fact Most are not unique and apply equally to routine as well as crisis situations. They readers appreciated this isn’t surprising considering the public wants, above all else, include: local media that function as “good neighbors” (Heider, McCombs, and Poindexter, • Have a good relationship with your printer. 2005). From all appearances, the Courier has been a “good neighbor” for a very • Don’t take sides. long time. Just as people are concerned about good neighbors and want to know • Get out a paper people want. when they are having difficulty, readers who identify with and care about “their” • Take care of your readers. newspaper will be interested in and want to know about the paper as well as its staff. • Try to be fair. While the current case study has examined a single newspaper’s response to • Like your community. a community crisis, it does suggest a number of things newspaper editors, pub- He also noted the Courier isn’t likely to win a Pulitzer Prize and the “writing lishers, and reporters may want to do to strengthen the relationship between their doesn’t sparkle but it gives them (readers) community news.” papers and their communities in routine as well as crisis situations. First, they can As far as the future is concerned, Kinner believes the community will “make it” acknowledge the fact that doing good community journalism not only contributes but worries that West Liberty, which had a compact downtown with old buildings to community development; it is community development. Second, they can ac- and a main street people were proud of, will become like many other mountain knowledge, if not embrace, the role of community advocate. As suggested above, towns strung out along highways with no central downtown. He thinks the paper this may require more personal involvement in the community and a different set can make it as well. He “hasn’t laid anyone off” and notes that the “workers I’ve of skills than those necessary for being a detached and objective recorder of events. got I grew up with.” (Courier Publishing employs seven people in West Liberty Finally, they can be sure their newspaper is a “good neighbor,” which means it will and two at the Wolfe County News in Campton.) Overall, newspaper circulation have to open itself up to the community, invest in it, and offer solutions to its prob- is about the same as before the tornado but counter sales are down since there lems. Many of these things do not receive recognition or win awards in the world 11 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 of metropolitan journalism with its focus on “hard” news, investigative reporting, Fannin, S. (2012). Personal e-mail, August 6. etc. While professional recognition and awards are nice, they aren’t necessary for Friedland, L. A. (2001). Communication, community, and democracy: Toward a community newspaper’s functioning and survival. The good will and support of a theory of the communicatively integrated community. Communication Research, community members and readers fostered by active community building are neces- 28, 358-391. sary, however, for a community newspaper to survive and thrive. Gardner, B. (2012). Personal e-mail providing transcript of discussion with par- ents Charlie and Martha Conley, August 3. Endnotes Heider, D., M. McCombs, & P. M. Poindexter. (2005). What the public wants 1. While located in the town of West Liberty, Kentucky, The Licking Valley Courier from local news: Views on public and traditional journalism. Journalism and Mass serves all of Morgan County, which is small both geographically (383.73 square Communication Quarterly, 82, 952-967. miles) and in population (13,923 in 2010). Janowitz, M. (1952). The community press in an urban setting. Glencoe, IL: 2. The experiences of Editor/Publisher Earl Kinner and News Editor/Reporter/ Free Press. Columnist Miranda Cantrell are described in this paper and both are quoted ex- Perez-Lugo, M. (2004). Media uses in disaster situations: A new focus on the tensively. Unless otherwise noted, the source for each of these is a face-to-face impact phase. Sociological Inquiry, 74, 210-225. joint interview the authors held with them on July 6, 2012 in the Courier office in Stamm, K. R. (1985). Newspaper use and community ties: Toward a dynamic West Liberty, Kentucky. Kinner grew up with The Licking Valley Courier from the theory. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. age of six when his father bought the paper and the family moved to West Liberty. Kinner attended the University of Kentucky for three years where he worked with underwood, e. d. & L. R. Frey (2008). Communication and community: Clarify- the campus newspaper in a role he describes as “basically a printer.” Cantrell began ing the connection across the communication community. In C. S. Beck (ed.), Com- working at the Courier part-time while an undergraduate student at Morehead State munication yearbook (Vol. 31, pp. 370–418). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum. University. She was employed full-time in 2006 after graduating with a degree in Usher, N. (2009). Recovery from disaster: How journalists at the New Orleans communications and sociology. Before the tornado, Cantrell was listed as a re- Times-Picayune understand the role of a post-Katrina newspaper. Journalism Prac- porter/columnist although she functioned as the paper’s news editor. When the staff tice, 3, 216-232. returned to town following the storm, her official title became news editor. Elizabeth K. Hansen is chair of the Department of Communication at Eastern Ken- References tucky University and can be contacted at [email protected]. Gary L. Hansen is Bhattacharyya, J. (2004). Theorizing community development. Journal of the chair of the Department of Community & Leadership Development at the Univer- Community Development Society, 34, 5-34. sity of Kentucky and can be contacted at [email protected]. This paper was pre- sented at the “Newspapers and Community-Building Symposium,” co-sponsored Brashear, I. (2012). Newspaper, radio station help rally tornado-ravaged town. by the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas State Uni- Downloaded July 23, 2012 from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community versity and the National Newspaper Association and the NNA Foundation at the Issues (http://irjci.blogspot.com/p/rural-newspapers.html). NNA’s 126th annual convention in North Charleston, S.C., Oct. 5, 2012.

12 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 Before bloggers there were ploggers (print loggers): Community journalism correspondents By Beth H. Garfrerick several times in each column. For example, Mrs. William Baker, Bentonville cor- respondent for the National Road Traveler in Cambridge City, Indiana, included 11 Introduction separate news items in her Thursday, June 16, 1955, column. Of those items, she and family members were listed in three. One item noted “Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Baker Since its inception, “weekly,” “rural,” “country,” “grassroots” or “community” and son Stephen entertained the Home Builders class Sunday evening.” After list- journalism has relied on correspondents from small, rural communities within the ing those in attendance, the paragraph concluded with “A cooperative supper was weekly or small-town daily newspaper’s service area to provide detailed accounts 1 enjoyed.” She was also mentioned among a group of Bentonville women traveling of local happenings. to Indianapolis. And finally, “Mr. and Mrs. William Baker and son Stephen, Mrs. Much like today’s bloggers, these early bloggers, or “ploggers” (print loggers) Alma Reddick of Mays, and Mr. and Mrs. Carl Reddick and daughter Carla Sue of wrote about issues that mirrored the lives of “average folk.” A “names make news” Milton, were Saturday evening guests of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Lindsay and sons, approach was popular in determining newsworthy local articles. Throughout the Gregg and Brad. A hamburger fry was enjoyed.”5 20th century, these correspondents were mostly farm wives who wrote about their Agriculture, illness, and religious revivals were also topics in high demand communities and recorded everyday happenings. They wrote about births, mar- among rural newspaper readers. It was not unusual for correspondents to begin their riages, deaths, social events, such as bridal showers and church receptions, out-of- columns with weather reports. In the October 9, 1969, edition of the Llano (Tex.) town visitors, and travel. These country correspondents played an important role News, Mrs. Abbye Sessom wrote the following in “News from Valley Spring”: in boosting the morale of readers and the bottom line of weekly publishers. Corre- spondents wrote columns under the heading of a community’s name that contained This news column will be short this week due to the big rains that cut off all news about its residents. Their writings revealed that even during tough economic telephone communications in west Llano. Hudson Long reported he got 7.40 and political times, people still enjoyed their lives, attended church, visited friends inches at his place. Others around that we were able to contact reported about and relatives, hosted social events, got married, and had babies, most of whom the five inches. It was badly needed in some ways, except some of the peanut newspapers described as “beautiful.” farmers were plowing up their peanuts and it will delay the work for some time. Creeks were on a rise Sunday morning and the ground is real boggy Small-town publishers recognized that correspondents maintained newspaper everywhere, but no one is complaining, just thankful for a wonderful rain.”6 subscriptions because of their columns’ popularity. For some publishers who lacked funding to pay even a single reporter, the only newsgathering help came from local A non-bylined correspondent bemoaned the fact that unusually nice weather correspondents, whose only pay might be a subscription to the newspaper. By the one Sunday kept many from church. Page six of the July 15, 1948, edition of the 1960s, however, a number of “housewife columnists” expanded their traditional Mexia (Tex.) Weekly Herald, headlined “Activities Through the Week,” contained correspondent roles to commenting on their daily lives and families in a more so- a column from the community of Farrar in which the writer noted, “Everyone has phisticated and, often, humorous manner. been enjoying the cooler weather after so much hot weather. There was very poor attendance at Sunday School Sunday afternoon. It seems that most everyone had Critics of community or rural journalism were especially harsh when it came to gone visiting.”7 discussing the “personals” that reported on the social gatherings and comings and goings of area residents.2 But proponents of community journalism argued that the Farm bureau agents began writing agricultural columns, which became a main- personals helped the community stay connected. The society columns of metropoli- stay in many community newspapers by the 1930s, but decades prior and after, tan dailies usually mentioned only the financially well connected, but the personals correspondents continued to write about the successes and woes of local farmers. in small-town newspapers included folks from varied income classes. A column from the community of Timberville, Virginia, in a January 1903 edition of Shenandoah Valley reported, “Mr. J.H. Hoover shipped a fine load of 100 hogs Traditional correspondent columns have persisted in weeklies throughout the from here Monday to Mr. J.A. Earman, Keezletown, Va. They averaged 197 lbs. country into the twenty-first century. In his 1993 book about his years in weekly and will be butchered by Mr. Earman, whose hams are famous and are sold in New journalism, Maine publisher Alexander Brook boasted that before he left the York York and Chicago where they are in great demand. The old time “old ham” is as County (Maine) Star in 1977, it averaged between 60 and 84 broadsheet pages a palatable in New York as Virginia where they are always in demand.”8 week devoted exclusively to news about 50,000 residents in 15 communities. In comparison, he observed that the New York Times devoted roughly 40 pages a week The correspondent served the role of hospital or nursing home spokesperson, on crime and government activities of the roughly 12 million residents of its city recording the illnesses and conditions of those in hospitals and nursing homes, as and surrounding communities. “A moderately active Kennebunker could expect to well as those recovering at home. Doctor-patient confidentialities were ignored find his name repeated hundreds, even thousands, of times in the Star during his as correspondents wrote in wrenching detail of the maladies suffered by friends, lifetime and the community events that shaped it,” he said. “The average Brooklyn family and mere acquaintances. Even out-of-town doctor visits were recorded. resident never, all his life long, finds himself mentioned in the Times.3 For example, under the heading “Lilbourn News” in the Aug. 1, 1957, edition of The Sikeston (Mo.) Herald, it was noted that “Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Edwards spent Tuesday in Cape Girardeau where Mrs. Edwards consulted her doctor…Mrs. Ed Names, names, and more names Beavers and daughter Eddie Jean, were in New Madrid Tuesday wher [sic] Eddie Weekly subscribers looked to correspondents from small, rural communities Jean visited her doctor.”9 within the newspaper’s service area to provide detailed accounts of local weddings, Correspondent columns were usually organized haphazardly, seemingly written baptisms, and funerals. The local content, printed on the blank sides of the ready- in the order in which the newsy tidbits reached the columnist. For example, the “So- 4 print newspapers, was usually designed to promote good will in the community. ciety” column of a 1911 edition of the Butts County Progress, published in Jackson, A “names make news” approach was popular in determining newsworthy local Georgia, reported that “Miss Jane Stanfield is the attractive guest of Col. and Mrs. articles. Not surprisingly, some correspondents thought highly enough of their po- Y.A. Wright,” followed by “Miss Mamie Kate Watson is at home from school this sition in the community to include their own names and those of family members

13 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 week on account of measles.”10 House paintings and home visits were the topic of to-county-movement applauded the rural press for its microscopic examination of the day in the May 1908 report from the South Lee community in the Marshall the intimate details of small-town life. (Mich.) Expounder. The column stated: “Pearl Mead has completed painting Geo. Emphasis on local news Cushman’s house. Mr. and Mrs. Younglove visited at Rolla Moats’ Sunday. Miss Many weeklies during the 1930s decreased their subscriptions to nationally syn- Jessie Cushman visited her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Cushman Sunday. Elgin 11 dicated ready-print and boilerplate material companies and increased their use of Wagner is having his house painted.” government propaganda.20 A growing number of government agencies provided Sentimentalism vs. sensationalism informational columns and articles on such pocketbook issues as family finance, Longtime Abilene (Kan.) Reflector editor Charles Moreau Harger argued in a consumer spending habits, and business and farming practices. But, even though 1907 article in The Atlantic Monthly that there were sentimental, even psychologi- there was an increased amount of government publicity in their publications, cal, attachments one had for his hometown newspaper that could not be matched by weekly editors continued to place a strong emphasis on local matters, as evidenced readers of a metropolitan daily. He observed that a city businessman would throw in the heavy use of community correspondent and locally written columns. The away financial papers and sensational tabloids but would eagerly open the pencil- importance of correspondents to “local” coverage was emphasized in a page two addressed home papers “that bring to him memories of new-mown hay and fallow paragraph in the April 6, 1933, edition of The Journal-Advance and Benton County fields and boyhood. Regardless of its style, its grammar, or its politics, it holds its Gazette in Gentry, Arkansas. Placed under the headline “From Our Rural Corre- reader with a grip that the city editor may well envy.” He said the time had not yet spondents,” the paragraph stated: come for the country paper to “assume city airs,” nor would it be for many years Most of our rural editors were, a little late this, week and we are not complain- to come. He explained, “The city journal is the paper of the masses; the country ing because we realize that they are busy with their own problems. This is weekly or small daily is the paper of the neighborhood. One is general and imper- the time of the year that folks in the country have much to do and work left sonal; the other, direct and intimate. One is the marketplace; the other, the home.”12 undone may mean a considerable loss at harvest time. We have had occasion Weekly and small-town daily newspapers in the early 1930s were better mir- to drive over almost the entire trade-territory the past few days and without rors of the public than their daily newspaper counterparts, closely representing the exception the people seem to have a renewed confidence in the return of bet- daily lives of their readers. In fact, University of Minnesota journalism professor ter conditions and are busy at their tasks with new hope and courage. They Thomas Barnhart’s 1936 textbook on weekly newspaper management emphasized seem to be contented and are satisfied with their lot. All things considered, the how important it was for an editor to turn out a newspaper that “mirrored the lives average farmer has every right to feel proud of his position in the community. of small-town and rural folk.”13 We folks here in Gentry really appreciate our farmer friends more than any Because of its close community tie, the weekly served as a valuable research other place that the writer has ever been. Without them we could not exist and source. A sociology professor at New Jersey College for Women, Rutgers Univer- with that in mind we will continue to cultivate their friendship and interest and sity, described the content of the average weekly as being “consistent and repetitive at all times endeavor to help them in every way that we can.21 in nature” and primarily concerned with local affairs. He acknowledged that while For some publishers who lacked funding to pay even a single reporter, the only some weeklies reported inconsistently, varied their editorial policies, or were care- newsgathering help came from local correspondents. Sometimes a correspondent’s less or negligent about omissions, average community newspapers were considered only pay was a free subscription to the newspaper, according to Charles Wilson, accurate and thus could be considered as reliable a source as public records that who wrote about weeklies in a 1934 article, “The Country Press Reawakens.” were “often badly kept.” He observed, “The person who does not know America’s Regarding country correspondents, he observed, “Few of them sign their work. small-town papers does not know rural America.”14 Yet they write on, through flood and famine, drought and pestilence--miniature An appreciation for these country scribes was voiced in a Time magazine article historians who expect neither money nor fame.”22 But while some correspondents that profiled the 1935 winner of “The Best Country Newspaper Correspondent in received no cash compensation, C.F.R. Smith, editor of the country correspondents’ the U.S.” contest, sponsored by the Crowell Publishing Company’s Country Home magazine, Folks, conducted a survey covering a large sampling of rural weeklies magazine. The contest winner was 58-year-old Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey of Oasis, in Minnesota that showed that 87.5 percent of rural correspondents received cash Missouri, who had been a correspondent for 44 years for the Taney County Repub- payment for their work. The survey revealed that column inch rates paid to cor- lican in Forsyth, Missouri. She had also contributed poetry, letters, and farm gossip respondents varied from two to five cents, while payment per column ranged from to Country Home magazine over the years. Her community was like that of many twenty-five cents to one dollar. The study also reported that monthly rates ranged country correspondents in that its population numbered less than 100. In fact, at from one to two dollars.23 the time the article was published, Oasis had only 21 residents while the town of During the Great War of the earlier 1900s and later, when Japan’s 1941 bombing Forsyth, from which the weekly was published, had a population of 281.15 As the of Pearl Harbor brought forth a declaration of war, weekly publishers had to decide winner, she received $50, a “fine silver meat platter with a vegetable dish to match,” how to balance local news with news from the war front. The following July 2, a free trip to Manhattan, and the title of the best country correspondent.16 1918, correspondent column in the Monticello (Ia.) Express from the community of According to country editor C.M. Meredith Jr. in his 1937 textbook on country Castle Grove provides an example of war news that varied from pleas for patriotic journalism, correspondents were “apostles of the country editor” because they sold support to updates on the whereabouts of local servicemen: the newspaper to hundreds that were “too far distant for him [editor] to reach direct- Nearly all of our citizens responded to the call and came to the headquarters ly.”17 Publishers recognized that correspondents maintained subscriptions because to buy their allotment of W. S. Stamps last Friday. A few, however, did not of their columns’ popularity. In fact, the author of a textbook on weekly newspapers consider it a duty to visit the committee and left it to a committee of busy men estimated that editors devoted more space to country correspondence than to any to spend another day in hunting them up. other single category because roughly half of the average weekly’s circulation went Forest Deischer was last heard from at Jersey City several days ago, and it is to readers on rural routes and in small communities. State press associations and the believed that he has sailed for somewhere “over there.” 24 18 National Editorial Association (now the National Newspaper Association), also This balancing issue became more of a concern during World War II consider- recognizing the importance of correspondents, joined forces in 1937 to publish a ing that syndicated news wire services made war news in the 1940s more afford- monthly informal, instructive magazine named Folks, which was described as “the 19 able and accessible than during previous international conflicts. Much of the local Helpmate of the Newspaper Correspondent.” Thus, the country’s view of rural content concerned the impact of war on the community. Correspondents submitted journalism, as displayed among the pages of nationally syndicated magazines and community reports that told of American Red Cross projects and soldiers stationed newspapers, was both complimentary and critical. Critics of country journalism overseas sent columns home with their first-person accounts of battlefronts and continued to raise questions of fairness and favoritism while supporters of the back- foreign travels.

14 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

By the 1950s, weekly publishers who wanted to stay competitive with daily made the claim above its front-page banner that it “Thoroughly covers a territory newspapers, radio newscasts, and the emerging television news industry, realized that is reached by no other paper.”34 But “country” editors had to fight accusations they should concentrate on doing what community weeklies could do best — pro- of being provincial and more politically conservative than the general population. vide in-depth coverage on local issues.25 No longer could they rely on ready-print Mississippi editor Hodding Carter criticized rural journalism critics and their use of and stereotype plate or “boilerplate” material to fill news holes within their pages.26 the word “provincialism” as applied to behavior and folkways associated with the A 1951 review of 30 surveys and studies of weekly newspaper reading conducted “American hinterlands.” He observed “you can find hicks in New York City” and during the previous 12 years affirmed the unique role that weeklies had in connect- “world citizens in Lawrence, or Emporia, or Greenville.” While he acknowledged ing residents to their community. University of Illinois journalism professor Wilbur that small newspapers had only limited political influence, he stressed “their local Schramm and research assistant Merritt Ludwig found in 1951 that “localness” and news columns give a sense of individual existence and individual worth to millions especially the publishing of local names made for high readership in weekly news- of Americans.”35 papers. Despite the fact that nearly all weekly newspaper readers surveyed relied Critics of country journalism were especially harsh when it came to discussing on radio for current news and roughly half also subscribed to a daily or Sunday the “personals” that reported on the social gatherings and comings and goings of newspaper, Schramm and Ludwig found that the weekly did a better job of “knit- area residents. But proponents of community journalism argued that the personals ting together its readers with the little understandings which are the essence both helped the community stay connected. The society columns of dailies usually men- of communication and community.” They asserted that the daily served more as tioned only the financially well connected, but the personals included folks from a bulletin board of the latest political, economic, and commercial news, while the varied income classes, although African-Americans were routinely excluded from weekly served as a “great wide window through which readers look out into their the general-circulation publications. An example of how closely readers perused community and into the lives of their friends and acquaintances.” As an example of the personals was relayed in a 1960 Editor & Publisher news brief. It noted that the strong community of interest developed by a weekly, researchers found that it the Walton (N.Y.) Reporter published an apology to two of its readers after the was difficult to find readers who were away from their communities for more than a weekly reported that a couple was leaving for New York on a Thursday. The report few weeks without having their hometown newspaper mailed to them to addresses implied that the couple would spend the entire weekend there. They returned Sat- in all parts of the world.27 urday, and the wife, a church organist and choir director, went to church for a choir So, how did weekly editors, reporters, and correspondents stay in touch with rehearsal, but no one else was there. The janitor told her they thought she would be their communities? Mabel Temby, editor of the Kewaunee (Wis.) Enterprise, wrote out of town, as stated in the paper; so the rehearsal was cancelled. That evening, the in a 1959 article in National Publisher that she worked 70 to 80 hours a week couple surprised other invited guests at a dinner party because the paper indicated and that her phone rang constantly. “The farmers get up at five o’clock,” she said, they would be out of town.36 “and before they go out into the fields, they call to tell me about the hay they have Rural journalism’s traditions were defended by the city editor of the Portland for sale, or the cow they want to buy.” She even received calls in the middle of (Oregon) Journal who was a former weekly editor-publisher. He responded to a the night, recalling, “The taverns close at one, and they sleep mornings, so when 1960 Editor & Publisher column arguing that suburban weekly newspapers were my phone rings at 1:30 I know before I pick up the receiver that it will be one of better than country weeklies. William J. Cary, Jr. said the assertion of the suburban them.”28 Newspaperman Eugene Harter seemed to imply that some weekly report- weekly’s superiority was based on the “false premise that anything bigger is auto- ers became too closely involved in their readers’ personal affairs, blurring the line matically better.” Cary also addressed criticism about the quaint wording of per- between news and gossip, when he recalled working with a society editor who sonals. “The fact that Mrs. Jones served a delicious dinner, as did Mrs. Smith and penciled in wedding dates and another date nine months later. She’d then check the Mrs. Brown, probably will continue to appear in the news columns of the country “Blessed Events” column, according to Harter, and match it to her chart. “Some weekly for a long time,” he wrote. “Few of suburbia’s editors have had to explain to weeks she would rush to the phone,” he wrote, “and amid much tittering, reveal the an irate Mrs. Jones why, after thirty years, her dinner for the quilting club suddenly results of her biological research to her friends.”29 is no longer delicious.”37 There was no blurring of the lines between news and gossip in “The Spillway,” a It was not uncommon to find some correspondents whose length of service popularly read gossip column that ran for more than 40 years in The Florence (Ala.) equaled or nearly equaled that of the number of years their community received Herald. The column was named for the spillway of Wilson Dam on the nearby designated column space in a nearby weekly. Among the faithful correspondents Tennessee River and was written by several anonymous authors throughout the was Bruna McGuire, who began writing for Ray County, Missouri, weeklies in the years. “Nobody knew who wrote it except me and dad,” recalled John D. “Jack” early 1900s. In 1970 she was still going strong at age 86, as was her column, “With Martin in a 2009 interview.30 He said that most of the authors were women but “a Homefolks.”38 couple of men did it at times,” adding, “It was a well-guarded secret.” To avoid One noticeable change in the columns by the 1970s was the correspondent by- being discovered, Martin said it was often under the cover of night that he went to line. In previous decades, the common practice was to precede the female colum- the author’s home to collect that week’s column. An emphasis on gossip made the nist’s name with the courtesy title of “Mrs.” But a 1979 issue of The Democrat in column “wildly popular” throughout the years, according to Martin. Following is a Emmetsburg, Iowa, identified female correspondents by first and last name only.39 typical “Spillway” item: “A little bird has whispered to us that Louise Jones’ visit However, other community newspapers retained the courtesy title and what might in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, which delayed her arrival here and shortened be considered “traditional” reporting on women’s club activities. For example, the her vacation with us by several days, was a significant one. We don’t know a thing 31 April 27, 1972, issue of the Hamburg (Iowa) Reporter published “Riverton News” but how we are a-guessin’.” “The Spillway” not only focused on who’s who, but by Mrs. James Booker. It included highlights from an April 19 meeting of the Sun- who’s with whom, according to Martin. “If you were with your boyfriend instead of 32 shine Circle Club hosted by Mrs. Ray Athen. After listing those in attendance, the your husband, everyone knew about it,” he added with a chuckle. column mentioned that “For entertainment they brought items for a ‘show and tell’ Commenting on the importance of covering a wide span of local issues, in- game, some of them being old dolls, quilts, a loom used for making hair swatches, cluding social and gossip columns, Alexander Brook, publisher of the Kennebunk old jewelry, and the one voted most interesting was a book of peotry [sic] some (Maine) Star, wrote that to be the community weekly of record it was important to original, brought by Mrs. Shull and belonging to her great-great-grandfather, report on what appealed “to the thoughtless as well as the thoughtful of all ages.”33 Abram Teachout, born in 1817 In Ohio.”40

Not provincial, personal Lessons for today: authentic voices, archivists Certainly a distinguishing characteristic among many weeklies was that they Today’s small-town newspapers can serve as authentic voices and archivists at a reported news from areas that no other print media outlets covered, or that were time when musings and memories are highly sought. Consider the March 7, 2012, only minimally mentioned in regional dailies. The Titonka Topic in Titonka, Iowa, restaurant column posting by an 86-year-old reporter for the Grand Forks (N.D.)

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Herald on the opening of an Olive Garden restaurant in that community. In her col- umn, “Eatbeat,” Marilyn Hagerty, a veteran newspaper reporter for 65 years, gave Endnotes overall positive marks to the chain restaurant, especially for its ambience. Within 1. The terms “weekly,” “community,” country,” “rural,” and “grassroots” are a day her review went viral on the Internet. While some reaction via blogs, Twitter used interchangeably to describe the small-town community weekly newspapers and Facebook postings derided her observations as unsophisticated, most reacted referred to in this paper. positively to a review deemed earnest and charming. Maggie Koerth-Baker, post- ing March 8, 2012, on the group blog Boing Boing, wrote, “If you grew up in places 2. A personal is a short news item of local interest that features names. where Olive Garden and Red Lobster really were the best restaurants in town, you 3. Alexander B. Brook, The Hard Way: The Odyssey of a Weekly Newspaper can’t help but feel a warm twinge of homesickness reading this.” Editor (Bridgehampton, N.Y.: Bridge Works Publishing Co., 1993), 255. Therein lies the authentic voice missing in much of today’s formulaic journal- 4. Ready-printed pages, a system introduced in this country the 1860s by Wis- istic writing according to blogger Katina Beckham French. In a comment posted consin weekly publisher Ansel Nash Kellogg, were usually two, inside, pre-printed May 17, 2012, to the That Darn Kat Blog titled, “Before Blogging, There Were pages sent to smaller newspapers to help fill a four-page newspaper. The material Newspapers,” French criticized community newspapers for adhering to a “journal- on these pre-printed pages contained general news and features of a regional inter- istic style guide that didn’t provide enough local flavor and unique character to keep est. The other sides of these pre-printed pages were left blank to be filled with local their material from becoming a commodity.” She concluded, “In their attempt to content. Ready-print was also referred to as “patent insides” or “printed service imitate the editorial standards of larger national papers, small town weekly papers pages.” have possibly shot themselves in the foot. They’ve given away their most compel- 5. Mrs. William Baker, “Bentonville,” National Road Traveler, 16 June 1955, 3. ling attribute: a truly local, intimate, personal and yet still professional perspective Cambridge City, in Wayne County, is located in the east-central part of Indiana. The on community news.” newspaper proclaimed to be the largest weekly in the state, offering a “complete Others disagree. Canadian blogger Linda Seccaspina, posting July 10, 2012, on weekly review of eastern Indiana.” Cambridge City had a population of 2,559 in the zoomers.ca blog, believes that small-town newspapers continue to publish the 1950. Seventeenth Census of the United States, “Population,” volume 1, section 5, news that most residents of those communities want to read. In “I’ve Got a Secret 14-19, Table 7. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http://www.census.gov/. — Small Town Newspapers,” she wrote, “Who does not want to know who got ar- 6. Mrs. Abbye Sessom, “News from Valley Spring,” Llano (Texas) News, 9 Oc- rested at the local watering-hole or whose lawn-ornaments are missing that week? tober 1969, 2. Llano, in Llano County, is located in central Texas, northwest of Even though large newspapers are losing money the local weekly small-town Austin. Llano had a population of 2,656 in 1960. Eighteenth Census of the United newspapers still manage to survive. Why? Because the local population depends States, “Population,” volume 1, part 45, section 2, 45-38, Table 8. http://newspaper- on their weekly words and supports them.” archive.com/, http://www.census.gov/. Small-town newspapers provide important genealogical and historical records 7. “Activities Through the Week,” Mexia (Texas) Weekly Herald, 15 July 1948, for their communities, covering many topics and events that never reached the 6. Mexia, in Limestone County, is located in central eastern Texas. Mexia had a pages of the regional daily. Archival issues should be highlighted and promoted on population of 6,410 in 1940. Sixteenth Census of the United States, “Population,” community newspaper websites to draw readers in to both archived and current edi- volume 1, section 9, 1,059, Table 5. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http://www. tions. Seccaspina observed that she was surprised and delighted at finding 50-year- census.gov/. old social columns from her hometown newspapers on Google Archives. She re- 8. “Timberville, Va. Items,” Shenandoah Valley, 15 January 1903, 2. New Mar- posted several of the seemingly inane listings and proceeded to provide their “back ket, in Shenandoah County, is located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. New stories.” For example, one listing mentioned a party hosted by her parents, Mr. and Market had a population of 684 in 1900. Twelfth Census of the United States, “Pop- Mrs. Arthur Knight, “at their lovely home on Albert Street.” What the column did ulation,” volume 1, section 1, Table 8. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http://www. not mention, according to Seccaspina, was that the adults played a game similar census.gov/. to musical chairs with a bag of women’s underwear. When the music stopped, the 9. “Lilbourn News,” The Sikeston (Mo.) Herald, 1 August 1957, 8. Sikeston, in one holding the bag had to pull out an underwear garment and put it on, while New Madrid and Scott counties, is located in the southeastern part of Missouri. The blindfolded. She also recalled that an inebriated female guest sitting beside an open newspaper was listed as a member of the National Editorial Association and the window fell out of the opening into the bushes below. Missouri Press Association. Sikeston had a population of 11,640 in 1950. Seven- Genealogists also find newspaper archival websites useful. In a comment post- teenth Census of the United States, “Population,” volume 1, section 7, 25-25, Table ed May 30, 2012, to the Genea-Musings Blog, Randy Seaver directed readers to 7. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http://www.census.gov/. the SmallTown Papers Collection web site as an excellent source for genealogy 10. “Society,” Butts County (Ga.) Progress, 10 February 1911, 1. Jackson, in searches. Newspaperarchive.com is a popular subscription site providing access to Butts County, is located in north-central Georgia, southeast of Atlanta. Jackson had weeklies throughout the United States. Within the growing number of small-town a population of 1,862 in 1910. Thirteenth Census of the United States, “Popula- newspapers included in these electronic archives are the correspondent columns tion,” volume 2, section 3, 343, Table 1. Population of Minor Civil Divisions: 1910, that follow the weekly activities of families through decades of church picnics, din- 1900, and 1890. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http://www.census.gov/. ner parties, illnesses, vacations, weddings, births, and deaths. 11. Marshall (Mich.) Expounder, 1 May 1908, 2. Marshall in Calhoun County, is located in south-central Michigan, just east of Battle Creek. Marshall had a popula- Keep plogging along tion of 4,370 in 1900. Twelfth Census of the United States, “Population,” volume So, although present-day correspondents might have the title of community 1, part 1, section 8, 456, Table 8. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http://www.census. blogger, the task must be the same: write about what is important in the everyday gov/. lives of local residents. More and more authentic voices are crying out in blogs 12. Charles M. Harger, “The Editor of To-day,” The Atlantic Monthly, January, and social media networks. But the problem is finding those that have relevance 1907, 92, 94. and provide emotional connections for local readers. Small-town newspapers can 13. Thomas F. Barnhart, Weekly Newspaper Management (New York: D. Apple- provide those authentic voices, young and old, through columnists and correspon- ton-Century, 1936), 5. dents, whether in print or online. Country recording artist Miranda Lambert in her 2007 hit “Famous in a Small Town” asserted that everyone has a story to tell. One 14. John Winchell Riley, Jr., “The Country Weekly as a Sociological Source,” stanza of the song goes: “I dreamed of going to Nashville. Put my money down and American Sociological Review 3:1 (February, 1938): 41, 43. placed my bet. But I just got the first buck of the season. I made the front page of 15. The Taney County Republican had a weekly circulation of 871. the Turner Town Gazette.”41 16. “Crossroads Correspondent,” Time, July 29, 1935, 40.

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17. C.M. Meredith, Jr., The Country Weekly (Boston: Bruce Humphries, Inc., preferred the stereotype plates because they could move the syndicated material 1937), 63. around on the pages. The term “boilerplate” was popularized to refer to any syndi- 18. To address concerns about competition with the metropolitan dailies for sub- cated material. Eugene C. Harter, Boilerplating America: The Hidden Newspaper scribers and advertisers, concerns which had been voiced by country editors since (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, Inc., 1991), 33. the late 19th century, Minnesota weekly publisher Benjamin Briggs Herbert led a 27. Wilbur Schramm and Merritt Ludwig, “The Weekly Newspaper and its group of publishers from across the nation to New Orleans in late 1885 to orga- Readers,” Journalism Quarterly 28 (Summer, 1951): 301, 304, 314. nize the National Editorial Association, a professional organization for the country 28. Mabel Temby, “Hometown Editor Says Country Journalism Is For Me,” The press. From its Chicago base, the association began publishing a trade magazine, National Publisher (May, 1959): 21. the National Editorial Journalist and Printer and Publisher (later re-named the 29. Harter, Boilerplating America, 7. National Printer-Journalist) in 1893. 30. Marcy B. Darnall, John D. Martin’s grandfather, bought The Florence (Ala.) 19. Thomas F. Barnhart, Weekly Newspaper Writing and Editing (New York: Herald in 1921. He had been editor of the Key West (Fla.) Citizen. His son, Marcy The Dryden Press, 1949), 191, 197. B. Darnall, Jr., and daughter, Louise Darnall Martin, inherited the paper from their 20. By the late 1940s, there were an estimated 250 newspaper syndicates that father. Marcy Jr. ran the paper. His sister lived in Atlanta with her husband, Albert produced 2,000 non-local features such as columns, editorial cartoons, and comic L. Martin. Marcy Jr. served in World War II as a Navy pilot. Before going to war, strips. Most of the country’s estimated 10,000 weeklies purchased at least one non- he asked his sister to take over the paper if he died while serving his country. After local feature. The main syndicate source for weeklies was the Western Newspaper receiving his discharge papers in 1945, Marcy Jr. was tragically killed in a plane Union, which served an estimated three of every five of the country’s non-dailies. accident on his return to the states. So his brother-in-law, Albert L. Martin, who By this time, WNU was based in New York, with 35 branches throughout the coun- had never worked in the newspaper business, came from Atlanta with his wife, try. According to country journalism textbook author Thomas Barnhart, the WNU’s Louise, to run the paper. Their son Jack worked in various positions, mostly in the service to small-town newspapers was so complete that the company was referred print shop, from the 1950s until the paper was sold in the mid-1970s. The Herald, a to as “the Sears and Roebuck of the weekly newspaper field.” Other syndicates member of the Alabama Newspaper Advertising Service, Alabama Press Associa- that served weeklies were the National Weekly Newspaper Service, owned and tion, and National Editorial Association, was established in 1884. Florence had a managed by WNU, the Newspaper Enterprise Association of Cleveland, and King population of 23,879 in 1950. Seventeenth Census of the United States, “Popula- Features Syndicate of New York, the largest producer of syndicate material. Also, tion,” volume 1, section 4, 2-18, Table 7. http://www.census.gov/. some state press associations sent out weekly news releases to members at little or 31. ”The Spillway,” The Florence (Ala.) Herald, 2 January 1958, 4. no cost. Thomas Barnhart, Weekly Newspaper Writing and Editing (New York: The Dryden Press, 1949), 202-06. 32. John D. Martin, “In-person interview with author,” (June 23, 2009). 21. “From Our Rural Correspondents,” The Journal-Advance and Benton 33. Brook, The Hard Way: The Odyssey of a Weekly Newspaper Editor, 141. The County (Ark.) Gazette, 6 April 1933, 2. Gentry, in Benton County, is located in the Star later combined with several area weeklies to become the York County Star. northwestern corner of Arkansas. Gentry had a population of 779 in 1930. Fifteenth 34. The Titonka (Iowa) Topic, 18 February 1965, 1. The Topic was listed as a Census of the United States, “Population,” volume 1, section 3, 121, Table 5. http:// member of the Iowa Press Association and the National Editorial Association. newspaperarchive.com/, http://www.census.gov/. Titonka, in Kossuth County, is located in north-central Iowa. Titonka had a popula- 22. Charles M. Wilson, “The Country Press Reawakens,” The North American tion of 547 in 1960. Eighteenth Census of the United States, “Population,” volume Review 238 (September, 1934): 262. 1, part 17, section 2, 17-27, Table 8. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http:www.cen- sus.gov/. 23. A survey covering a large sampling of rural weeklies in Minnesota, con- ducted by C.F.R. Smith, editor of Folks magazine, showed that 87.5 percent of 35. Hodding Carter, First Person Rural (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Com- rural correspondents received money payments for their work. Column inch rates pany, Inc., 1963), 246. varied from 2 to 5 cents, payment per column ranged from 25 cents to $1, and 36. “The Weekly Editor: Thursdata, Welcome Home?” Editor & Publisher 93 monthly rates ranged from $1 to $2. (Barnhart, Weekly Newspaper Writing and (March 5, 1960): 30. Editing, 198). 37. William J. Cary, Jr., “The Weekly Editor: Rural Press Defended,” Editor & 24. “Castle Grove,” The Monticello (Iowa) Express, 4 July 1918, 1. W.S. stood Publisher 93 (October 22, 1960): 56. for War Savings stamps, a patriotic program of the U.S. Treasury Department to 38. Viola Roadcap Groce, “The Weekly Editor: Little Chronicler,” Editor & help fund the war effort. Monticello, in Jones County, is located in east-central Publisher 103 (April 25, 1970): 38. Iowa. Monticello had a population of 2,043 in 1910. Thirteenth Census of the Unit- 39. The Democrat, 6 December 1979, 5. The West Bend correspondent was ed States, “Population,” volume 2, section 5, 595, Table 1. Population of Minor identified as Vivian Nessen. Her phone number was listed under her name. Em- Civil Divisions: 1910, 1900, and 1890. http://newspaperarchive.com/, http://www. metsburg, in Palo Alto County, is located in the northwest part of Iowa. Emmets- census.gov/. burg had a population of 4,150 in 1970. Nineteenth Census of the United States, 25. “Weeklies Becoming Increasingly Important, Says Florida’s Governor,” The “Population,” volume 1, part 17, 17-12, Table 6. http://newspaperarchive.com/, American Press 77 (October, 1959): 18. The sub-headline of the article read: “Big- http://www.census.gov/. ness of dailies re-opens field for coverage of activities of individuals by small town 40. Mrs. James Booker, “Riverton News,” Hamburg (Ia.) Reporter, 27 April and neighborhood newspapers.” The article referred to an address by Governor 1972, 3. Leroy Collins of Florida to the fall meeting of the New England Weekly Press 41. Travis Howard and Miranda Lambert, “Famous in a Small Town,” Nash- Association held in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. The governor’s main mes- ville: Sony-BMG Music, 2007. sage was that weekly newspapers, rather than fading into obscurity, were becoming increasingly important. 26. Stereotype plates required squeezing a sheet of damp cardboard over the References type. The cardboard sheet was then dried, lifted, and turned over and molten metal “Activities Through the Week.” Mexia (Tex.) Weekly Herald, 15 July 1948, 6. was poured onto the cardboard, making a cast. Stereotype plates were more ex- Baker, Mrs. William. “Bentonville.” National Road Traveler, 16 June 1955, 3. pensive to use than ready-print because they required a press run, but some editors Barnhart, Thomas F. Weekly Newspaper Management. New York: D. Appleton-

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Century, 1936. Riley, John Winchell, Jr. “The Country Weekly as a Sociological Source.” Amer- Barnhart, Thomas F. Weekly Newspaper Writing and Editing. New York: The ican Sociological Review 3, no. 1 (1938): 39-46. Dryden Press, 1949. Schramm, Wilbur, and Merritt Ludwig. “The Weekly Newspaper and its Read- Booker, Mrs. James. “Riverton News,” Hamburg (Ia.) Reporter, 27 April 1972, ers.” Journalism Quarterly 28 (1951): 301-314. 3. Sessom, Mrs. Abbye. “News from Valley Spring.” Llano (Tex.) News, 9 October Brook, Alexander B. The Hard Way: The Odyssey of a Weekly Newspaper Edi- 1969, 2. tor. Bridgehampton, N.Y.: Bridge Works Publishing Co., 1993. “The Spillway.” The Florence (Ala.) Herald, 2 January 1958, 4. Cary, William J., Jr. “The Weekly Editor: Rural press defended.” Editor & Pub- Temby, Mabel. “Hometown Editor Says Country Journalism Is For Me.” The lisher 93 (1960): 56. National Publisher (1959): 21. “Castle Grove,” The Monticello (Ia.) Express, 4 July 1918, 1. “Timberville, Va. Items.” Shenandoah Valley. 15 January 1903, 2. “Crossroads Correspondent.” Time, July 29, 1935, 40-41. The Titonka (Iowa) Topic The Emmetsburg (Ia.) Democrat “Weeklies Becoming Increasingly Important, Says Florida’s Governor.” The “From Our Rural Correspondents.” The Journal-Advance, 6 April 1933, 2. American Press 77 (1959): 18. Groce, Viola Roadcap. “The Weekly Editor: Little chronicler.” Editor & Pub- “The Weekly Editor: Thursdata, Welcome home?” Editor & Publisher 93 lisher 103 (1970): 38. (1960): 30. Harger, Charles M. “The Editor of To-day.” The Atlantic Monthly, January 1907, Wilson, Charles M. “The Country Press Reawakens.” The North American Re- 89-96. view 238 (1934): 260-267. Harter, Eugene C. Boilerplating America: The Hidden Newspaper. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, Inc., 1991. Beth H. Garfrerick is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications Howard, Travis and Lambert, Miranda. “Famous in a Small Town.” Nashville: at the University of North Alabama and can be contacted at bagarfrerick@una. Sony-BMG Music, 2007. edu. This paper was presented at the “Newspapers and Community-Building Sym- “Lilbourn News,” The Sikeston (Mo.) Herald, 1 August 1957, 8. posium,” co-sponsored by the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas State University and the National Newspaper Association and the NNA Meredith, C.M., Jr. The Country Weekly. Boston: Bruce Humphries, Inc., 1937. Foundation at the NNA’s 126th annual convention in North Charleston, S.C., Oct. Martin, John D. “In-person interview with author.” June 23, 2009. 5, 2012 The Monroe Journal, Monroeville, Alabama

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18 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 Mr. and Mrs. John Doe announce the engagement of…: A study of the decline in reader-submitted content in four Eastern Kentucky community newspapers By Deborah T. Givens A content analysis of four weekly, community newspapers in Eastern Kentucky looked at the changes in reader-submitted content. A brief description of the overall A content analysis of four community newspapers in Eastern Kentucky tracked project follows in order to provide an explanation as to how the four communities over a 10-year period from 2000 to 2010 reader-submitted content in a variety of were selected to have newspapers representative of the region. categories including wedding, anniversary, and birth announcements, “thank you” and “in memory” notices, letters to the editor, and community event invitations. Methodology − Community newspaper case study design The analysis documented that while some newspapers have shown growth in a The research project used the following design based on a case study method: few categories, overall there has been a substantial decline in the amount of reader- 1. A preliminary longitudinal analysis was conducted of circulation figures for submitted content — especially in the more traditional “social” areas of birthdays, the 22-county region over a 10-year period, comparing newspaper circulation fig- births, weddings, engagements, and anniversaries. At the same time, an overall in- ures in 1998 and 2008. These years reflect the time just before the growth of the crease in announcements of community and church events took place. Since there Internet when national media still held a relatively strong economic position, and was little connection between whether or not a newspaper was charging for submit- then the period 10 years later when the “crisis” facing newspapers had become a ted items, it would appear that other factors are at work in the overall decrease in national discussion. By gathering circulation information for the Kentucky region submitted content. newspapers from these two time periods, it was possible to compare the circulation While reader-submitted content plays an important role in the development of trends in the region with those at the national level. Through analysis of the data, a community within a geographic area served by a newspaper, these types of items group of newspapers were identified for additional analysis and made up the em- also represent one of the primary ways in which residents contribute to the newspa- bedded units of analysis. Gerring discussed this process of selection and noted that per. Often the submission of a birthday greeting will lead to more familiarity with cases “chosen for case study analysis are identified by their status (extreme, devi- the submission process, a greater interest in reading the newspaper, and subsequent- ant, and so forth) relative to an assumed population of cases” (2007, p. 13). This ly the submission of additional items — a community news pathway. These types analysis of circulation provided key information for determination of the current of social news items help in developing a participatory identity for the newspaper. status of community newspapers in the region and was also used, along with other As residents of a community lose this connection to the newspaper, it is an easy step data such as poverty rates, population, retail business numbers, and geographic lo- to stop subscribing to and reading the newspaper. Follow-up interviews with the ed- cation, for the selection of four newspapers for additional study. Creswell called itors of the four newspapers documented a variety of factors impacting the decline this a purposeful sampling strategy. “This means that the inquirer selects individu- in reader-submitted content with the number one cause identified as social media. als and sites for study because they can purposefully inform an understanding of the research problem and central phenomenon in the study” (2007, p. 125). Rationale for the study 2. Preliminary focused interviews were conducted with the editors of the select- The challenges facing America’s newspapers have been well-documented, es- ed newspapers to gather information on their views on the status of their respective pecially in the recent decade with the growing impact of electronic media. Declin- newspapers including patterns in circulation, advertising, and content along with ing circulation figures coupled with shrinking advertising revenues have led to the other factors seen as impacting the current and future status of the newspapers. Yin closing of some newspapers while others have reduced publishing days or moved noted that focused interviews differ from in-depth, open-ended interviews in that to online-only news outlets. they are usually shorter in nature, and usually follow a limited and prescribed set of Most research tracking the decline had focused on large national and mid-sized questions, although the focused interview may still follow a more open method of regional newspapers. This paper reports on one portion of a study directed at de- interviewing than strictly structured interviews (2003, pp. 90-91). The purpose of veloping an understanding of the economic status of newspapers in a 22-county, the focused interview was to have input from the editors before proceeding to the predominantly rural region of Eastern Kentucky primarily served by small, weekly, next step in the data collection: qualitative document analysis of the newspapers. community newspapers. This exploratory research compared the status of small, Information provided by the editors was used as an initial guide in the qualitative rural community newspapers with the larger national newspapers whose declin- document analysis, helped control researcher bias in the content analysis, and pro- ing economic situations were assumed to affect all print media. While community vided a reflexive aspect to data collection. newspapers are businesses, and this study looked at business-related information 3. This study employed qualitative document analysis, which allowed for a focus such as circulation numbers and advertising trends, the study also looked at other on the context, process, and emergence of the meanings and messages of docu- trends such as reader-submitted content to develop a larger perspective of the status ments (Altheide, 1996). Altheide defined qualitative document analysis as the “re- of the newspapers in their communities. flexive analysis of documents” (1996, p. 65). Key features of qualitative document The thousands of small newspapers across the country serve a crucial role in the analysis, and differences from traditional quantitative content analysis, included democratic process by providing information on community issues and a forum that qualitative document analysis had a research goal directed toward discovery for discussion of the issues. But these small, often around 5,000-circulation news- and a reflexive research design, including a reflexive progression from data collec- papers, also play an important role in building and maintaining communities. This tion to analysis to interpretation. Another key feature, which was especially suited can be partially accomplished by providing government, school, and other “hard” to the background of this researcher as a former community newspaper editor and news. But smaller newspapers, especially, have traditionally also contributed to publisher, was that the primary researcher in a qualitative document analysis proj- developing a sense of community by publishing the more “soft,” or social, news — ect would be involved in all phases of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. such as weddings, births, and anniversaries. While some categories may be predetermined, the data collection most often in-

19 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 volved the emergence of categories. Another key feature was that in quantitative A deliberate decision was made to analyze all the issues for each of the two content analysis the data were recorded as numbers or occurrences while in qualita- years for each of the newspapers — a daunting task of reading, coding, and analyz- tive document analysis data were numbers AND narrative — with the emphasis on ing over 400 newspapers. In traditional content analysis for weekly newspapers, narrative (Altheide, 1987). the guidelines most often followed were established in the study “Sample Size in Issues of the newspapers were read to develop an initial coding protocol, which Content Analysis of Weekly Newspapers” by Lacy, Robinson, and Riffe and called was revised during the research process due to the reflexive aspect of qualitative for a random selection of 14 issues per year (1995). While this number and type of document analysis. A longitudinal dimension was added to the case study by ana- selection was satisfactory in studies looking to enumerate occurrences, it would not lyzing newspapers in 2000 and 2010 — the beginning and end of the decade that allow for the identification of emerging issues and trends. Weekly newspapers have saw major changes in the newspaper industry, the emergence and growth of the a rhythm and an essence only identified by a deep reading over a time period. The Internet, and the dominance of the “newspapers are dead” narrative in the national pages will often include letters, photos, columns, and advertisements followed by media. responses to those initial publications, which are then followed by other responses 4. After the gathering of circulation data, interviews, and qualitative document — a dialogue in the community carried out on the pages of the newspaper. This analysis, it was determined if other resources were needed. Although case study would be missed in a random sample. texts stress the need for a study design, the very nature of qualitative case study Altheide discussed the need for saturation sampling in some situations in rela- research includes the identification of additional data as the research process takes tion to a study he conducted on network evening newscasts during the period at the place. One of the researcher’s skills must be in determining when additional data beginning of the Iran embassy takeover in 1979. He explained that if conventional are needed. As an example, the issues emerging during data collection pointed to quantitative sampling methods had been followed, “important thematic patterns a need for additional information regarding changes in reader-submitted content, would have been lost” (1987, p. 70). which led to gathering data on charges for submissions and preparing additional Copies for all four newspapers for the year 2000 were available through the Uni- questions for editors regarding social news. versity of Kentucky microfilm center. Print or pdf copies for 2010 were accessed 5. Follow-up in-depth and open-ended interviews with editors. This allowed the at the newspaper reading room at the UK library, at county libraries, and from the researcher to ask additional questions about patterns identified from the data and newspapers in the study. talk further with the editors about patterns they saw in content and advertising. As previously noted, the qualitative document analysis provides for both the These interviews were participatory and open-ended in discussion, with the editors counting of numbers or occurrences and for narrative of the emerging categories and the researcher introducing topics and offering observations as the discussion in a study. For this study of weekly newspapers, a coding sheet was developed that directed. allowed for counting of numbers of pages in each issue and percentage of advertis- The sections of the data collection that specifically related to reader-submitted ing for each issue. These are two key elements in tracking the economic health of content are discussed below. the newspaper. Also counted were occurrences of specific types of reader submit- ted content including: thank yous, memorials, birthday greetings, birth announce- ments, wedding and engagement announcements, anniversary announcements, Pre-interviews of newspaper editors obituaries, community calendar announcements, and community correspondents. Preliminary focused interviews with the editors of the selected newspapers were The coding sheets also provided prompts for reviewing other aspects of each issue, conducted to gather information on their views on the status of their respective such as placement of advertising, types of major advertisers, and special sections. newspapers, including patterns in circulation, advertising, and content along with In addition to counting the items noted above, the researcher also read and analyzed other factors seen as impacting the current and future status of the newspapers. the newspaper issues to identify trends related to the status of the newspaper and The purpose of the focused interview was to have input from the editors before those characteristics of the newspaper that appeared to be continuing or changing. proceeding to the next step in the data collection: qualitative document analysis of the newspapers. This protected against researcher bias in the content analysis and also provided a reflexive nature in the data collection. Reader submitted content — comparative analysis One concern identified by the editors was a decline in reader submitted items — The editor pre-interviews and the first readings of the community newspapers such as birth and wedding announcements — for publication in the newspaper. One directed the researcher to a more in-depth analysis of reader submitted content. editor noted that his newspaper had published only one social item in each of the As noted in the pre-interviews, one editor said his newspaper had published only two previous issues. While the same editor expressed concerns about how social one social item in each of the two previous issues. Such a small number of social media use, especially among younger residents, was impacting how people publi- items reflected a fundamental change from what was for a long time the traditional cized personal news, he also noted that several of the recent submissions received content, especially on inside pages, of community newspapers. In the early part of at the newspaper had come from “younger” subscribers. The editor said he was the century, a study of weekly newspapers in Virginia found that: monitoring submissions and considered them an important trend representative of Personal items of the type, “The Jim Jones family visited the Martin Smiths the degree of community involvement in the newspaper. Sunday,” together with news of births, marriages, deaths, and other personal items, regarded as so typical of the country weekly, were found to occupy 71 per cent (sic) of the human interest news space, and incidentally, one seventh Qualitative document analysis of newspapers of the entire newspaper space. (Reuss, 1939, p. 332) The next step in data collection employed qualitative document analysis to re- Kentucky historian and recorder of rural life, Thomas D. Clark, also documented view the issues of each newspaper in 2000 and 2010 with the objective of identify- that the focus on social or personal items continued to be important in the middle of ing trends in advertising and content in an effort to determine what changes had the 20th century in his study of southern, country newspapers: taken place, what the current advertising and content status was for the newspapers, and the implications for the future viability of the newspapers. While qualitative People wanted to know of the social doings of their neighbors. They wanted document analysis can include some of the traditional features of quantitative con- to be informed when and where preaching services would be held, who was tent analysis, such as the recording of numbers or occurrences, those data are only sick and expected to die, who ate dinner away from home, who strange visi- part of the analysis. Qualitative document analysis depends on narrative and a re- tors were, where the local baseball teams were playing and with what results, flexive research design that moves from data collection to analysis and to interpre- when there would be barbecues, who the candidates were, what had happened tation and back to previous steps as needed. Another key feature listed was that the at court day, what was going on at the courthouse, what kind of weather pre- primary researcher be involved in all phases of data collection and that the expertise vailed over the county, what crop prospects were, who had been arrested, and of the researcher in the area under study was part of the data collection process. whose cotton had bloomed first. They wanted to read circus advertisements, news of violence, hangings, lynchings, stories of curiosities, of big snakes,

20 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

of big potatoes, big hogs, and the strange antics of animals, and all the social information provided to the newspaper. gossip of courtings, marrying and births…It was to serve this everyday de- Following are the comparative analysis charts for the four newspapers. For each mand for local news that country papers resorted very early to the publication category and for each year in the study, the number of occurrences was recorded. of names whether they made big news or not. (1991/1948, p. 23) The average figures were calculated by using the actual number of issues, which Fortunately, by the latter part of the century reports of lynchings and hangings varied according to availability as discussed in the circulation section. Finally, the were no longer found in community newspapers, and residents were turning to change in the average per issue for the year was shown as a plus or minus percent- other media for weather reports and often even crime news, but “marrying and age. births” along with other submitted content still filled many pages of those com- munity newspapers. Reader Submitted Content — Comparative Analysis A 1999 report in the journal Small Town on “How to run a successful community Newspapers AAA and BBB newspaper and bring it into the 21st century,” listed 16 criteria, one of which was “share social and family happenings.” The author, who had more than 40 years of experience with community newspapers, said, “Social news, weddings, births and obituaries telling what the deceased was proudest of achieving, etc., should appear in every issue” (Becker, 1999, p. 28). Newspapers have traditionally included content prepared by the paid staff, such as news articles about local government, crime, accidents, sports coverage, busi- ness news, and features about local people and events. Submitted news would in- clude a variety of items, some of which have traditionally been considered a form of advertising and for which there were charges, and other items considered news. Examples of submitted content related to advertising would be “thank you” adver- tisements and “in memory” or “memorial” advertisements. The thank yous would come from families stating their appreciation to those who had sent flowers to a funeral or from a group, such as a local cancer society, thanking recent donors. Memorial advertisements were submitted by individuals to honor a deceased loved one — usually on anniversaries of the person’s birth or death. As noted, these types of submissions were usually paid — either at the regular per inch rate charged busi- nesses or at a discounted or flat rate. These two types of submitted material were included in the analysis. Other submitted material identified for the analysis included those of a more social nature, such as birthday, birth, wedding, engagement, and anniversary an- nouncements. These items would often include a photo and would be published Reader Submitted Content — Comparative Analysis in a story form. Another category in the study was “announcements.” Although Newspapers CCC and DDD announcements most often are considered news, they usually are not gathered by the news staff but are most often submitted by publicity chairs of local organiza- tions, individuals, local government agencies, and churches. Becker, in his list of 16 requirements for a good community newspaper, included as one category the regular publication of what he called community bulletin board notices, which he said were “essential to making a community newspaper useful and to making your community strong” (1999, p. 29). Another type of submitted item, although falling under the opinion category, was letters to the editor. While not part of the regular news coverage, these did reflect citizens making the effort to write a letter and submit it to the publication — to become actively engaged with the newspaper and the community. The columns submitted by “community correspondents” made up another cat- egory. These writers, who cover towns and neighborhoods in a newspaper’s cover- age area, have been a well-known and often popular part of community newspa- pers for many years. In his study of southern, country newspapers, Clark devoted an entire chapter to community correspondents. This researcher, who had over 20 years of experience in community newspapers, learned that omitting a community column could result in dozens of irate callers wanting to know what had happened. Community correspondents were sometimes paid a small amount per inch or a flat rate per column, but more often payment was only in the form of a free subscription and gifts at the holidays. The final category — obituaries — perhaps appeared unrelated to the other more Reader submitted content — narrative social or opinion categories, but it did reflect the importance local citizens and read- The pre-interview observation of one editor that the number of submitted so- ers placed on the newspaper being an important “record” of milestones in people’s cial items was declining was supported by the analysis of the four newspapers. lives. With many newspapers starting to charge for obituaries in recent years to In three of the categories most strongly associated with “social” news — birth- provide what some managers saw as a captive source of income, considerable con- days, births, and weddings/engagements — all four of the newspapers showed a troversy had developed over the practice. Family members or others responsible decline in submissions. In the category of anniversaries, three of the newspapers for making arrangements did have to authorize the release of information, whether showed a decline in submissions, and the fourth newspaper had the same number, the obituary was paid or free, so this category did reflect decisions made to have

21 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 although an extremely low number: only seven submissions each in 2000 and 2010. photo, and by a free subscription. The importance of these small payments should Many of the declines were substantial — as high as 79 percent. One newspaper not be overlooked. At the newspaper which lost all community correspondents over had published 127 birthday announcements in 2000 but only 27 in 2010. Birthday the 10-year period, new owners had stopped providing free subscriptions to the announcements had also declined significantly at the other three newspapers — 57 correspondents. On the opposite side, the other newspaper that showed a decline in percent, 42 percent, and 39 percent. number of correspondents had provided free subscriptions in 2000 and continued All of the newspapers showed a decline in thank yous, from a high of 78 percent to do so in 2010. The newspaper that showed an increase in number of commu- to a low of 15 percent. For memorials, two of the newspapers had a decline, one had nity correspondents had a small per column payment for writers in 2000 but had no change, and one posted a small increase of 3 percent. While all the newspapers stopped that practice by 2010. had larger numbers of thank yous, the number of memorials published was not high From the analysis of submitted content, it appeared that while some newspapers for 2000 or 2010. had shown growth in a few categories, overall there had been a substantial decline A slightly different type of reader submitted content analyzed was the letter to in the amount of reader submitted content — especially in the more traditional “so- the editor. Although opinion oriented, these types of articles still required the writer cial” areas of birthdays, births, weddings, engagements, and anniversaries. At the to actively participate in the community newspaper by composing and submitting same time, there had been an overall increase in announcements of community and the letter. Another characteristic of letters to the editor was that newspapers did not church events. Since there was little connection between whether or not a newspa- charge for these, so cost was not an issue. In three of the newspapers, the number of per was charging for submitted items or was or was not paying correspondents and letters to the editor declined at rates of 64 percent, 63 percent, and 37 percent. One increases and decreases in submissions, it would appear that other factors were at newspaper showed an increase of 31 percent. work and responsible for the overall decrease in submitted content. For community correspondents, two of the newspapers had a decline with one of those moving from an average of three community correspondent columns in Additional narrative for content related to newspaper status 2000 to none in 2010. The other two newspapers showed an increase — one small As discussed previously, qualitative document analysis moves beyond counting and the other 87 percent. predetermined units to allow for a deeper reading of the material. One trend identi- One category of submitted content — announcements — stood out as three of fied during the study related to the “look” of the newspapers. Changing technology the four newspapers posted increases and because this category had, by far, the larg- in the print industry affecting the appearance of newspapers was not news. When est number of submissions. Announcements included general events and church the linotypes were replaced with typesetting equipment in the 1960s and 1970s notices. and newspapers replaced their old presses with new offset units, newspapers be- The final category was obituaries, which, as noted above, on the surface appears came much cleaner looking and featured more photos and artwork. The revolution to be an unusual type of submitted content but does reflect family members of the brought about by computers and digital cameras had resulted in more changes, deceased taking action to have the notice published. Two of the newspapers had with even the smallest newspapers featuring full color on multiple pages and intri- a decline, 29 percent and 42 percent, and two posted increases, 11 percent and 42 cate designs on advertising and editorial sections. Computers also made it easier, percent. and less costly, to access state and national articles, photos, and graphics, mak- Charging for submitted items had become more frequent — some newspa- ing the newspaper less dependent on locally submitted content. The newspapers pers charged based on size of the photo, others charged for the article, and others in the study looked more like large dailies in the state and across the nation, but charged only if a personal greeting was included. For example, if a photo of a child at the same time they were losing some of the individuality and local orientation had an accompanying article that listed basic information such as name, age, par- previously prominent. Perhaps the more McPaper look, like a USA Today, did not ents, and party information, there would not be a charge. But, if the same photo and encourage community participation in the newspaper through submitted content. information also included a greeting such as “Happy Birthday to the sweetest girl The “social” submitted content also appeared to not receive prominent place- in the world,” some newspapers would charge. ment in the newspaper pages — often relegated to back pages or sections. One Comparing the increases and decreases to changes in charging policing at the newspaper for a brief period started putting large, decorative borders around births four newspapers showed that the implementation of a price charge before 2010 and birthdays in an effort to give them more prominence. The practice made the was not indicative of a decline. As an example, for the two newspapers that had a items look more like advertisements than editorial content and somewhat over- decline in number of obituaries from 2000 to 2010, one had not charged in 2000 whelmed the photos and articles. or 2010, and the other had not charged in 2000 but had instituted a significant As discussed previously, weekly newspapers have a rhythm and an ongoing charge by 2010. As another example, the newspaper identified as AAA had never dialogue, which were especially revealed through the analysis of two full years of charged for births, weddings/engagements, or anniversaries, but showed significant newspapers in this study. Following his study of Virginia newspapers, Reuss said: declines in all three categories. In the birthdays category, the same newspaper had Seasons play their part in the scheme of rural life. Predominant activities vary started charging by 2010 and showed a decline in that category also. The newspa- from season to season. The content of weekly newspapers reflects this fact per identified as BBB also had not changed the policy for charging from 2000 to by significant differences in the types of material presented in the various 2010 — the policy was to only charge if a personal greeting was included in the months. Advertising, for example, was highest in December when people text — but still saw a decline in the birthday, birth, and wedding/engagement an- were being urged to shop for Christmas, and lowest in February when trade nouncements. Newspaper CCC had charged for all social items with the exception was reduced by the effects of wintry weather. (Reuss, 1939, pp. 333-334) of 50th anniversary announcements in 2000 and 2010, and it, too, saw a decline in An unexpected finding from the analysis of the four newspapers in this study, all four “social” categories. Newspaper DDD had charges for some items in 2000 and in opposition to Reuss’ observation, was a general decline in pages and adver- and 2010 but also did not charge in either year for birth announcements if submitted tising between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The researcher’s experience in over within six months of the birth or for 25th or 50th anniversary announcements. The two decades of community newspaper publishing was similar to Reuss’s findings: newspaper also did not charge for one announcement related to a wedding — either The weeks before the Christmas holiday saw issues with large numbers of pages, the engagement or the wedding. Again, in all four “social” categories, regardless and, in fact, the largest newspaper of the year was in December with the publication of whether there were or were not charges, the number of submissions declined. of greeting card ads to the community from businesses, organizations, elected of- The issue of the implementation of charges was not applicable for the category ficials, and even individuals and families. The four newspapers in the study saw de- of community correspondents. In fact, these writers for the newspaper were some- clines in all categories for December: number of pages published down 22 percent; times paid by the column inch or at a flat rate per article. More often, the writer was number of pages of advertising down 28 percent; and number of pages published rewarded by having his or her name in the newspaper every week, maybe with a in the issue before December 25 down 43 percent. On the surface, the December

22 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 declines would appear to be related to the slight overall decline seen in advertising, A third editor provided an explanation for the decline in community correspon- but these figures showed the decline to be much more substantial in December. dents at his newspaper. The editor said that at one time the newspaper had writers From reading the issues, it was apparent that the biggest decline was in the greeting from communities all over the county, but by 2010 it was down to two — and those ads, which have many of the same attributes as “social” submitted content. Even two were writing about more general topics rather than writing about a specific though the businesses and individuals sending the greetings were paying advertis- community. He said that several years before, in an effort to make the newspaper ing prices, these greeting ads were of a more personal nature, a community tradi- content more professional, correspondents had been asked to not include scripture tion, and were evidence of the business owners, community leaders, and residents or other religious “talk” in their columns. If such material was included in the col- celebrating together. umns, it was edited out. This decision by the newspaper management resulted in The next stage of the data collection was extended interviews with the editors. many of the correspondents quitting writing. The editor said that there had been Using the data from the qualitative document analysis, an interview guide was de- some discussions about bringing back the community correspondent columns, add- signed. To allow for a more open discussion, the guide established topics to be ing it was something that may be looked at more “down the road.” One option he discussed but did not have questions that called for short answers. The key issues thought would be more workable would be to have a column from a community and trends that emerged in the interviews are discussed in the following section. run on a monthly rather than weekly schedule, for example having a monthly page of community writers. Editor interviews As noted in the narrative of the qualitative document analysis of submitted mate- rial, some of the newspapers had started charging or had increased the charges for The four editors of the newspapers selected for additional study were each inter- some categories of submitted content. The editor at one newspaper that charged for viewed at the office for his or her newspaper. One of the strengths of the case study several types of items, after reviewing the decline rates for his newspaper, said he design used in this study became quickly evident in each of the post-interviews thought “prices on some of the submissions need to be looked at.” with editors. By having the pre-interviews, during which the editors were asked to discuss key threats, trends, and issues they were seeing in relation to their individual Just as the Internet was blamed for many of the declines in submitted content, newspapers, and during which the researcher explained the design and purpose of one editor also credited new technology with increasing the number of event and the study, a collaborative, circular study style was established. It was obvious from church announcements the newspaper was receiving. “I really think that computers the types of statements made by the editors, such as, “I’ve been thinking about...,” helped out a whole lot,” the editor said. “Instead of calling [announcements] in or or “Since our conversation…,” or “When looking at the past issues, what did you bringing them in, they email me and it’s done. I say thank you and appreciate you find about…,” that they had spent time reflecting on their individual newspapers, sending. I can have it done in 20 seconds opposed to going three or four steps.” their communities, and issues related to community newspapers. This created an For the category of obituaries, one editor attributed the decline at his newspaper environment for a more in-depth discussion with a sense of collaboration rather to instituting a charge for publishing the notices. “When [we] did away with free than interrogation. obituaries and people could not go [to the newspaper] and see something about It was evident from the interviews that the decline in most categories of submit- everyone who died — we really took a hit then,” he said. ted content was something the editors had been monitoring, but all were somewhat After reviewing the changes related to submitted content for his newspaper, one surprised by the size of the decline and how many types of submitted content were editor said, “We put ourselves out here as a hometown newspaper, and if our social impacted. Several reasons for the decline were offered, but all of the editors identi- aspect is down, then involvement in the paper is not what it used to be. Then it is fied one primary cause — the Internet. Discussing the decline in submitted birthday something we really need to work on.” photos and articles, one editor said, “You know what I attribute it to? Facebook. I really do. That’s your youth showing up. Weddings and engagements the same way. Opportunities and threats We use to get two-column write-ups of weddings. We never get that.” Another edi- Despite optimistic statements made in all of the interviews about the opportuni- tor also pointed to Facebook as contributing to the decline in submission of social ties provided by the Web to attract new readers and to compete with larger media news, saying that when someone had a new baby, pictures were soon posted on by being able to post breaking news, editors still had concerns, especially about Facebook — even photos of his own grandchildren, although their photos were also younger generations not adopting a print newspaper habit. “The Web is going to re- published in the newspaper on their birthdays. Another Internet site, Topix, which ally be something in the future,” one editor said. “All of my subscribers are getting had sites for community and where people could post anonymous comments about older. The younger ones, just like birth announcements and weddings, they have a any topic, was identified as contributing to the drop in submissions in the category different avenue that is more readily available to them. They don’t have to deal with of letters to the editor. “They can go on websites like Topix, not put their names to me, they go directly to Facebook.” it and say anything they want,” one editor said. “With the newspaper has to be fact based. And include their name and address.” The link between the newspaper and the people of the community was also identified as the key component to strong community newspapers. One editor said, Community correspondents — columns submitted regularly from a person writ- “We’re trying to build the thought that this is the community’s newspaper. We want ing about the happenings in a specific neighborhood or region of a county — had them to take ownership in it editorially.” Another editor expressed a similar view, declined at two of the newspapers, remained almost the same at one newspaper, and saying, “I think that one thing that’s going to be key to any community newspaper’s increased at the fourth. At the one newspaper that had seen an increase, the editor survival is going to be maintaining that touch…keeping in touch with community.” was somewhat ambivalent. On one hand he saw the columns as another form of lo- cal content, saying, “My thought is that I try to be as local as possible. The country letters are better than state news releases.” At the same time, he was not sure if the Future research country letters should be continued. “It’s always at the back of my mind should I Based on the results in this study of community newspapers and their current continue with them or let them die off slowly,” the editor said. “We use to run a page status as compared to national media, the following topics are recommended for of everyone who went to the hospital. Kind of like country letters. People are really future research. touchy. Now I don’t run them because people went to the hospital and their homes • Additional research on connecting community newspapers with the communi- were robbed. Same with country letters. If people go on vacation, there’s a problem. ties they serve and on examining the ways in which the two are interconnected. That’s an issue, too. Those communities aren’t as tight as they use to be. They don’t This also suggests the need for community media scholars to seek out partnerships really care who visits who.” Another editor said that looking back to the ’50s, every with rural sociologists and other scholars researching in the area of communities little community had a column that was sent in to the newspaper. “Actually, we’ve and sustainability. made a big push to get people to send in columns,” the editor said. • Additional research into ways to create community newspapers that are more

23 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 participatory in nature and more actively involve citizens in creation of content, This loss of the participatory role of the residents in contributing content may from increasing submissions of social news items to providing ways for readers to be one of the biggest threats facing community newspapers. For the long-term suc- interact on the website by posting blogs, video, and photographs. This could also cess of community newspapers, even if they take on some other form that uses a combine research on the history of community correspondent columns and how platform such as the Internet and become known as community media, and also for they relate to a modern form of writing — blogging — with the goal of revitalizing the long term health of the communities served by these newspapers, the key may the correspondents through newspaper Web sites. be to focus on a process through which citizens are more partners in the creation of the news outlet. In James W. Carey’s ritual model of communication, the readers Implications for the future of community newspapers and residents participate in the creation of the community media (Carey, 1989, p. 18). A move to bring the community more into the creation of the news publica- One of the advantages of a case study research strategy is that it allows for us- tion could be seen as newspapers giving up their independent, watchdog role, but ing mixed methods in the research process, which leads to having data that look at newspapers have always been somewhat schizophrenic — having a role to play in the problem from a variety of perspectives. This in turn aids the researcher in the maintaining a democratic society, a duty to present the news, an ideal of objectiv- attempt “to capture the complex reality under scrutiny” (Denscombe, 1998, p. 62). ity to maintain…all while tied to a business model dependent on advertising and One of the key findings that emerged was that the newspapers in the study were subscriptions. Just as community newspaper publishers and editors have always taking advantage of technology to produce publications that were full of photo- had to balance reporting independently with the need to pay for the product through graphs, graphics, and color and looked very similar to their larger cousins — the selling advertising, they can also find ways to make the community a partner in daily newspapers. They also were looking more like those larger newspapers in that producing the publication while still maintaining that necessary editorial indepen- social news — from weddings to birthdays — were disappearing from the pages. dence. This reclaiming of the social aspect of community newspapers could be a Perhaps more than the loss of locally-owned businesses or the movement of the key contributor to future success. younger generation to the Internet, this decline of the social news was representa- tive of a loss of involvement by the citizens in contributing content to the newspa- per. Instead, the community newspaper had become another publication talking TO References the residents, sending information, rather than the instrument of communication Altheide, D. L. (1987). Ethnographic Content Analysis. Qualitative Sociology, AMONG the residents of the community. 10(1), 65-77. The importance of these types of submitted items to the success of community Altheide, D. L. (1996). Qualitative media analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage newspapers had long been identified by scholars and by many community journal- Publications, Inc. ists. In his review of rural, southern newspapers in the early part of the twentieth Becker, J. (1999). How to run a successful community newspaper and bring it century, Kentucky historian Clark advised, “It was good practice to publish every into the 21st century. Small Town, 29(2), 22-29. birth, marriage and death, and to print obituaries in great numbers” (Clark, 1991, Besser, T. L. (1994). Why care about small town newspapers? Iowa State Uni- p. 24). versity Extension. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.extension.ia- Social news items are not just important for how they can benefit the newspaper. state.edu/communities/news/comcon02.html An Iowa extension sociologist discussed the role of social items in an article en- Carey, J. W. (1989). Communication as Culture. Winchester, MA: Unwin titled “Why care about small town newspapers?” Hyman, Inc. City people love to make fun of the “folksy” quality of small town papers. Clark, T. D. (1991). The Southern Country Editor, University of South Carolina. They chuckle about items like the following: Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Wombe of Reprint of 1948 edition published by The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis. Lake Mills are the proud parents of a daughter, Lisa Marie. Grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Wombe of What Cheer and Mr. and Mrs. Riley Richter Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing of Keswidk, great-grandparents are…great-great-grandparents are…Jacob Among Five Approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Houser and grandsons of Belle Plaine were Monday callers in the Cathy Denscombe, M. (1998). The Good Research Guide for Small-Scale Social Re- Schmidt home… Elise Smelser was released from St. Joseph’s Hospital in search Projects (4th ed.). Berkshire, England: Open University Press New Hampton Friday. Gerring, J. (2007). Case study research: principles and practices. New York, However, what readers often don’t realize is that by reporting the daily life NY: Cambridge University Press. events of local people, newspapers serve an important function in community Lacy, S., Robinson, K., & Riffe, D. (1995). Sample Size in Content Analysis of life. Small town papers can reflect, affirm and even help build a positive com- Weekly Newspapers. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 72(2),336- munity atmosphere. (Besser, 1994) 345. While the social news items played an important role in the development of Reuss, C. F. (1939). Content of the country weekly. Rural Sociology, 4(3), 328- community within a county or region, these types of items also represented one of 336. the primary ways in which the residents contributed to the newspaper. Often the Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (3rd ed.). Thou- submission of a birthday greeting would lead to more familiarity with the submis- sand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. sion process, a greater interest in reading the newspaper, and subsequently the sub- mission of additional items. These types of social news items helped in developing a participatory identity for the newspaper. As residents of a community lose this Deborah T. Givens is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication connection to the newspaper, it will be an easy next step to stop subscribing to and at Eastern Kentucky University and can be contacted at [email protected]. reading the newspaper entirely. This paper was presented at the “Newspapers and Community-Building Sympo- sium,” co-sponsored by the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at The decline at the four newspapers of greeting advertisements during the Christ- Kansas State University and the National Newspaper Association and the NNA mas season also pointed to a decline in residents and business owners seeing the Foundation at the NNA’s 126th annual convention in North Charleston, S.C., Oct. newspaper as a social communication system for the community and instead only 5, 2012. identifying with the newspaper as an official or business entity.

24 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 Using social media to report the news: The good, the bad and the ugly By Maria Raicheva-Stover and Robert Burkett Results The results of this study are based on the responses of 30 media outlets from Introduction Kansas (n=13), Nebraska (n=4), Missouri (n=8) and Oklahoma (n=5). Figure 1 Social media have changed profoundly how news is created, distributed and shows the percentage of respondents from each state. consumed. Time and time again this has been seen in the way news organizations have used new media tools to advance stories and convey information through plat- forms like Twitter, Facebook, blogs and such video sharing services as YouTube. While the effects of social media have been explored to some extent in Europe (Erdal, 2011) and South Africa (Stassen, 2010), there has not been a great deal of academic research on this topic in the United States. Indeed, trade publications have published an abundance of opinion pieces and commentaries about social media (see Overholser, 2009). Yet there has been a surprising lack of systematic, scholarly examinations of the ways social media has influenced the newsroom. A review of the existing literature reveals that the focus of academics so far has been on either describing the use(r)s of new media or detangling the marketing aspects of social media. Studies pertaining to Facebook, for example, either aim to understand the motives of its users or attempt to measure the ROI of social media marketing. One of the few existing studies on the effects of social media on reporting the news was published in November 2011 by the Pew Research Center. The groundbreaking study looks at how 13 mainstream media outlets (newspapers, TV, radio and online only publications) used Twitter for a week (“How Mainstream Media,” 2011). Figure 1. Percentage of media organizations from each state. Given the dearth of systematic research on the uses of social media for news re- porting, this study is an attempt to examine how news organizations in the Midwest In attempting to find out who was behind the social media efforts of these media use social media. In attempting to understand the process, we sought answers to organizations one thing became quickly obvious. Of the 30 organizations contact- several questions: ed, not a single one had someone on staff whose sole purpose was managing social • Who are the people pushing the envelope of social media in the media. The respondents confirmed that social media was one of the responsibilities field of journalism? they simply had to add to their existing skill set. This finding also points to a team • Which platforms are they using and in what manner? approach in the industry in which multiple people are using social media to push • How popular is each platform? news out to the public as quickly as possible. This was further supported by the response to the question: “How often does your organization use social media to • What is the level of trust in social media? report the news?” In response, 22 of the organizations said they used it constantly while just five used it several times a day. Only three organizations used it once a Methodology day, but those were located in smaller communities where the news cycle tended The sample consisted of news organizations from the Midwest region of the to be slower. United States. Focus was placed on local newspapers because of their central role In terms of different platforms used, the data gave an interesting view into which in delivering the news. A recent study by the Pew Research Center indicated that types of social media tended to give the most “bang for the buck.” Not surpris- 73 percent of Americans follow closely local news, and newspapers remain their ingly, the one that seemed to be universally used was Twitter. With 29 of the 30 primary source of information for a majority of topics (“72% of Americans,” 2012). respondents saying they used Twitter, we can conclusively say that at least in the The researchers created a sample directory that included all newspapers in the states region of the country under scrutiny, Twitter has become an accepted social media of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma. The media organizations ranged platform. Delving further into the data, one can see that of the 29 that did use Twit- in sizes from the small town newspaper of central Kansas to some of the leading ter, 27 of them used it as a professional tool to interface with the community or find newspapers in cities such as Kansas City, St. Louis and Oklahoma City. additional useful sources for a story. Two of the professionals interviewed said they In the fall of 2011, the arduous process of gathering the data began. Thanks to a used it for personal purposes and branding. research grant from Washburn University, the researchers were able to create and The results also revealed that Facebook, one of giants in the social media field, post an online survey through SurveyMonkey. In spite of the encouraging pilot has also gained a measure of acceptance in the media world. Twenty-four of those tests, the response rate to the online survey turned out to be less than satisfying. Out surveyed said they used it as both a professional news tool as well as for personal of the 30 media outlets that had initially agreed to participate in the study, only three use. Only two used it strictly professionally, and then only to push stories out and responded electronically. After several attempts to elicit additional online respons- solicit reader opinion on stories. The single response to personal was from an orga- es, the researchers opted to switch to a more traditional approach and conduct tele- nization where social media had an official account that represented the organiza- phone interviews. While laborious to implement, this mode of data collection has tion and that person wasn’t directly using it in large part. Only three organizations undisputable advantages. In interviewing the subjects, the researchers were able to reported that they didn’t use Facebook at all. gain unparalleled depth and richness of knowledge. Many times during the phone Interestingly, podcasts, which are acknowledged as a great new media tool, have interviews, there was reasoning behind why a journalist did or didn’t use a certain not seen a wide acceptance (at least in the region under examination). Of those platform that would have been lost in the online survey. The phone interviews were surveyed, 23 said they didn’t use podcasting as part of their social media efforts. an unexpected development, but gave us the chance to achieve nuance in the data Four organizations indicated that they might use them in the future, but expressed that comes from speaking directly with the subjects. After the completion of the concerns over the time and effort it takes to produce a professional grade podcast. interviewing stage in April 2012, the process of data analysis began. In the words of the one the respondents: “…the rewards for producing a profes- sional podcast are small.” Three news organizations, which were bigger in size,

25 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 reported that they did use podcasts but felt they were an ancillary part of their social Conclusion media efforts. This study aimed to shed some light on the ways social media is used by news- As the world of media is very visually driven, both photo sharing and video papers in the Midwestern region. The results indicate that, indeed, social media is sites such as Flickr and YouTube were used, though photo sharing was not done gaining momentum in the field, but journalists remain skeptical of social media through a single commercial platform. Instead, in sharing photos, many organiza- as a tool to get reliable information or contact sources. Moreover, while various tions used their own, self-designed photo sharing systems that gave them the ability social media tools are well utilized by the journalists we talked to, it seems that the to control the content (and on occasion make profit from it). Of the organizations evolving world of social media is still considered a slice of journalism and not the sharing photos, 20 used it in a strictly professional manner. The rest either used exclusive purview of anyone in the newsroom. Flickr exclusively for personal usage or in a combined format, i.e. both personally If one can rate the popularity of different social media tools, Twitter would un- and professionally. doubtedly be on top of the list. This conclusion further reinforces the importance Video sharing, on the other hand, elicited a very consistent response in terms of of the Pew Research Study on Twitter as well as the need to conduct additional a platform used. YouTube was the preferred platform, used by everyone who re- in-depth research on how various news media outlets utilize specific social media sponded positively that they did share videos through social media. The majority of platforms. One intriguing finding, for example, was the way journalists character- the respondents (n=18) also said they used video sharing as a professional service ized blogging as a personal activity in spite of the fact that blogging has become only. Three news organizations did not use video sharing at all. a staple of big mainstream publications. Clearly, additional research is needed to Blogging, a popular online writing/publishing activity, elicited mixed response explain why journalists in our sample viewed blogging in such a way. One thing in terms of its professional purpose. Twenty five respondents said they used a blog- is certain, however, all the media professionals we talked to expressed their belief ging service of some kind, most in the last 3-4 years. The distinction, however, that social media will remain a growing and vital tool in the world of journalism. from personal and professional leaned more in the favor of personal usage. Most surveyed journalists said they used blogs to express their own personal ideas and References: opinions on issues that they were interested in talking about. Specifically, out of Erdal, I. (2011). Coming to Terms with Convergence Journalism: Cross-Media the 25 respondents who used blogs, 19 used them in a personal way. Several of the as a Theoretical and Analytical Concept. Convergence, 17: 213- 223. respondents indicated they also didn’t have their blogs published publicly, and only allowed readers on a private, by invitation only, basis. How Mainstream Media Outlets Use Twitter. (2011, November). Pew Research Center, Retrieved from: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2130/twitter-news-organiza- We also asked the media organizations to provide us with information about tions the volume of their social media traffic. Social media have been in existence for years now, with platforms like Facebook and Twitter gaining thousands of new Overholser, G. (2009). What is journalism’s place in social media?, Nieman Re- accounts each week. It should not be surprising then that most of the professionals ports, p. 5-6. we surveyed had a decent to large following. On Facebook, just over three-fourths Stassen, W. (2010). Your news in 140 characters: exploring the role of social of the media professionals had more than 250 followers, most of which were local media in Journalism. Global Media Journal: African Edition. 4(1). audiences. 72% of Americans Follow Local News Closely. (2012, April). ) Pew Research On Twitter the cutoff seemed to be lower, at just over 100 followers. However, Center, Retrieved from: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2238/local-news-enthusiasts- the ceiling on that platform was high with two respondents having more than 1,000 newspaper-television-internet-communities followers on Twitter. The two journalists also happened to be from two of the larg- est media markets in the area surveyed. Maria Raicheva-Stover is an associate professor of mass media at Washburn The telephone interviews also allowed us to get a good glimpse at the different University in Topeka, Kan., and can be contacted at maria.stover@washburn. reasons behind using social media as a reporting tool. Chart 1 gives the number of edu. Robert Burkett is a mass media student at Washburn University who worked journalists who outlined their reasoning behind use of social media. Regardless of on this project as part of an independent study. This paper was presented at the whether they were active social media users or not, all media professionals valued “Newspapers and Community-Building Symposium,” co-sponsored by the Huck social media as a tool to gather news, and the majority (n=28) saw social media Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas State University and the as an important tool to research information and sources, or promote their news National Newspaper Association and the NNA Foundation at the NNA’s 126th an- organization (n=27). A similarly high number of journalists saw the value of social nual convention in North Charleston, S.C., Oct. 5, 2012 media to disseminate breaking news and connect with readers (n=26). The one . finding that stood out and was constantly repeated was the value of face-to-face or Chart 1. Reasons for using social media as a reporting tool (in number of responses). phone interviews. While social media has gained acceptance as a news distribution tool, media professionals seem to indicate that they are still skeptical of social me- dia as a primary contact and interview tool with potential sources. Much as email interviews are regarded as secondary sources, social media is considered a support tool and not a main venue for gathering first-hand accounts.

See Chart 1 at right.

One interesting finding was generated by respondents’ answer to the question whether they trusted social media. In spite of the fact that most of the surveyed media organizations could be described as active social media users, their over- all trust of social media was low. Often journalists responded by qualifying their answer in that if the information came from anther reputable news source, like another newspaper, then they would trust it. Generally speaking however, 24 of the 30 respondents (or 80%) said they were skeptical of social media and would check with other sources to corroborate information.

26 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 Press freedom: Keep an eye on Iceland By Jennifer Karchmer and fitting in his earpiece that connects him with the show’s director, Ágústsson was informed of the embargo on the bank story. Editor’s note: Portions of this article appeared in The Reykjavik (Iceland) Grape- “I have been a newscaster for 30 years. You know that in a live broadcast ‘shit vine on July 6, 2012. happens’ as they say, but it’s important how you deal with it,” he said, during our interview also at RÚV’s studio. “If you panic, then the audience panics.” By this time, almost a year after Iceland’s financial crash, the media were familiar with Earlier this year, as I embarked on my six-week reporting assignment on free- covering it. Ágústsson went into ad-lib mode: “We are not allowed to present all of dom of the press, many people wondered: what would lead an American journalist the news that we were going to,” he said on air. to Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland, for this topic? The suppression evoked public outcry and members of the Journalists’ Union of As the Washington State Bureau Correspondent for Reporters Without Borders, Iceland and the RÚV News Broadcasters’ Association criticized the bank’s move a volunteer position I took on in 2010, I monitor freedom of the press issues, help- to control the news. ing to protect the rights of journalists. My role is to keep an eye on censorship in Washington state and report my findings to the RWB-USA headquarters in Wash- “I remember thinking at that time that this was a counterproductive move by the ington, D.C. bank, Kaupþing. It blew up in their faces. It drew even more attention to what they were trying to hide. It was hugely damaging to the bank,” Malmquist said. To better understand press freedom in my home country, I began researching the concept of press freedom outside the U.S. and came across IMMI, the Icelandic This egregious instance of news control over a WikiLeaks report thrust the Modern Media Initiative, a proposed law in Iceland. The idea behind IMMI (say idea of freedom of information into the news headlines and connected WikiLeaks’ “im-mee”) is to preserve and strengthen press freedoms worldwide. The proposal, Founder Julian Assange with the IMMI team. introduced in June 2010, would bring together some of the strongest media protec- tions and free speech laws from other countries to create a progressive protection Much work to be done for journalists internationally. Today, IMMI is slowly moving through Parliament and faces challenges as it’s run only by volunteers, Executive Director Smári McCarthy explained during an Why Iceland? interview earlier this year in Reykjavik. With no centralized office or paid staff, While in Reykjavik in January and February this year, I conducted dozens of IMMI lacks funding needed to hire international libel law experts to write policy interviews with journalists, citizens, politicians, activists and travelers. I met with protecting freedom of speech and information. Language is also a sticking point, veteran Icelandic newsman Bogi Ágústsson; reporters at the daily newspaper Mor- as the proposal will pull from existing laws in countries from around the world, gunblaðið; and Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of Icelandic parliament who helped including Belgium, Estonia, Norway, Sweden and the U.S. produce the WikiLeaks “Collateral Murder” video with Julian Assange. Jónsdóttir Meantime, journalism has become a more challenging profession with layoffs is a leader in developing IMMI. and cuts to resources similar to the crunch happening in the U.S. “We’ve had to I chose Iceland (population 319,000 as of 2011) because it has been ranked at the meet more demands because the people want better media and better coverage,” top of the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index over the past decade. Sigga Hagalín Björnsdóttir, RÚV’s deputy head of national news, told me at the This measure of press freedom, first published in 2002, put Iceland in the top spot TV studio in February. “IMMI is a great idea, and I sincerely hope it becomes real- eight times (often tied with Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark). In ity,” she added. 2009, Iceland was ranked 9th and then in 2010 moved back up to the top spot in a tie with several other countries — this time along with the inclusion of Sweden Iceland’s FOI and Ireland. Some progress has been made. For instance, the protection of sources is a critical Another widely-cited press index, Freedom House, also listed Iceland as “Free” point for journalists, and Smári notes that Article 25 of Iceland’s new media law in its 2010 Map of Press Freedom, noting “despite enduring problems associated instituted in 2011 guarantees sources anonymity if requested. Iceland’s proposed with the global financial crisis of late 2008, the Icelandic press is still among the constitution also ensures source protection. freest in the world.” Access to public records is also important. Currently, under Iceland’s Freedom of Information Act of 1996, if a journalist or citizen wants access to government Fateful newscast documents, he or she has to go through a complex and time-consuming process to During my interviews, I learned that IMMI’s beginnings revolved around a obtain the information, which is sometimes the case in the United States as well. particular newscast in Iceland that occurred on Aug. 1, 2009. On that Saturday, With the influence of IMMI, the Icelandic law would change to “publish by five minutes before the evening newscast on national broadcast station RÚV, jour- default” putting all public documents in an online database. Documents held back nalist Björn Malmquist found himself “shocked and angry” — even “pissed off.” for national security or privacy issues would be the ones listed with an explanation Malmquist shared his experience with me during our interview held at RÚV’s TV and FOI requests can be made for those documents specifically, Smári said. “This studio in Reykjavik. change is the most important alteration of many,” he wrote in the status report. Apparently, he was worked up because Kaupþing bank issued RÚV an injunc- Despite only gradual progress on making IMMI a law, Jónsdóttir, the free speech tion — a legal move that forced the TV station to pull its lead story about insider advocate and Parliamentarian who is co-sponsoring IMMI said, “Anything we get loans. WikiLeaks had exposed this news a few days earlier. done is a victory.” She and I spoke during a two-hour interview in February to Moments before airtime, Malmquist and the RÚV team scrambled to rewrite the discuss the implications of IMMI. 7 p.m. newscast, fearing that if they didn’t abide by the injunction that they would face monetary fines. “But we did it in a way that was tenable to us to tell the story, A perfect press? without telling the story,” he said. So while IMMI is still being hashed out, journalists in Iceland say they work in As the top of the hour approached, word of the ban got to anchorman Bogi relative safety with overall good access to politicians and sources − an atmosphere Ágústsson. Amid his pre-broadcast ritual of reviewing scripts, straightening his tie much different from their news counterparts in repressive regimes like China,

continued on page 32 27 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012 Reporting health: Rural newspaper coverage of health in Kentucky By Al Cross and Sarah Vos Health disparities At a policy level, news coverage of health topics can influence public action The impact of news coverage on health status and health policy has long been (Wallington, Blake, Taylor-Clark, & Viswanath, 2010). But in order to do this, established. Recent work has examined how media coverage may influence in- Wallington et al., argue, newspapers stories must draw attention to health dispari- dividual health decisions and preventive behaviors (Stryker, Moriarty, & Jensen, ties — inequalities in health outcomes and health-care access that affect certain 2008; Jenson, 2011) and how coverage of health-related issues can lead to changes populations based on race, socioeconomic status, and geographic regions (Ndiaye, in public policy and public perception (Kline, 2011). Krieger, Warren, & Hecht, 2011). Scholars have theorized many models to explain the influence of the news me- National surveys have shown rural residents have more smoking-related ill- dia. Such models include traditional theories of media effects, like priming (Weav- nesses, tooth loss, limited physical activity because of chronic health issues, and so er, 2007) and agenda setting (McCombs & Shaw, 1972); health behavior theories on. They also have less access to quality health care than residents of metropolitan like Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1969) and stage-based theories (Weinstein, areas. Sandman, & Blaclock, 2009); and news learning theories, like the cognitive media- Bressers (2005) argues that the news media need to contextualize health prob- tion model (Jenson, 2011). These models all assume, however, that the news media lems, framing issues not just as one-time events but relating health issues to the regularly report on health. broader well-being of society. Health coverage, it is argued, should provide a com- While the prevalence of health reporting in larger newspapers is well established prehensive picture of health problems, explaining not just why one person or group (Kline, 2011), little research has been dedicated to rural newspapers. This may be, has a health problem but the causes of the broader health issue. By covering the in part, because relatively few rural newspapers are included in newspaper data- social determinants of health, media coverage could help set the public agenda by bases such as LexisNexis, and many are not online or do not post full or even partial setting the terms of the debate (Gasher et al., 2007). news stories online. However, rural newspapers may be more influential than their In order to understand how reporting in Kentucky newspapers could play a role metropolitan counterparts. According to Garfrerick (2010), rural and other commu- in improving health literacy, this study analyzed health news coverage in rural nity papers are often ignored by scholars because they are viewed as unprofessional newspapers in Kentucky, with these basic research questions: and unimportant. What this assumption ignores, however, is the central role rural RQ1: Do rural Kentucky newspapers regularly publish articles about health? newspapers play in community life. According to Garfrerick, rural newspapers are RQ2: What resources do rural Kentucky newspapers dedicated to health viewed by readers as an “extended member of the family” (p. 152) and, thus, oper- stories as measured by staff-written stories, article placement, photographs, ate in a more intimate position in their readers’ lives than urban newspapers. Since and graphics? many of these papers are weeklies, each edition tends to remain in the living space longer than a daily, and is often re-read or passed along to another household. Ac- RQ3: What health topics are most frequently covered by rural Kentucky cording to the National Newspaper Association (2011), each copy of a community newspapers? newspaper is shared with an average of 2.33 persons. RQ4: Do stories about health in rural Kentucky newspapers provide informa- Rural newspapers should be of interest to health communication scholars be- tion about the scope of the health issue or problem being reported? cause of the way in which they are read. Although, nationally, newspaper reader- RQ5: Do stories about health in rural Kentucky newspapers discuss health ship has been declining, rural readership remains steady. According to the NNA, disparities? 60% of adults who live in the circulation areas of rural newspapers depend on their Following this analysis, several editors of rural newspapers were interviewed in local paper as their primary source of local news. They spend, on average, 39 min- an attempt to determine their level of interest in covering health issues. utes reading their local newspaper, and 73% of them report reading the entire news- paper. The attention paid to rural newspapers suggests that these newspapers might Methodology be able to play a key role in improving health literacy among a demographic that often suffers from low health literacy levels. Over a six-month period, a commercial clipping service, NewzGroup, identified health-related articles in 178 Kentucky newspapers for the Foundation for Healthy Another factor to consider is that weekly newspapers often remain in the domi- Kentucky. The news service works with the Kentucky Press Association to obtain cile until the next edition of the paper arrives, or even later, and are read on multiple copies of all Kentucky newspapers directly from the publishers. The service clips days, unlike daily papers. (The newspaper industry defines daily papers as those from all regularly publishing newspapers in Kentucky. (For a complete list of the that print four or more times per week, and weeklies as those that print one, two or newspapers included in this study, see Appendix A.) three times a week.) Search terms used by NewzGroup were: Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, Medicaid, Susan Zepeda (president of the foundation), Janie Miller (secretary of the Health literacy Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services), KCHIP (Kentucky Children’s Health literacy is commonly defined as “the degree to which individuals have Health Insurance Program), school health, mental health, public health, health pol- the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services icy, smoking ordinance, substance abuse, healthy communities, healthcare reform, needed to make appropriate decisions” (USDHHS, 2003, “Definition of Terms,” cigarette tax, tobacco tax, Kentucky Voices for Health, health insurance, govern- para. 5). Low health literacy levels have been implicated in poor health status, poor mental/political issues, and health insurance and industry trends/statistics. management of chronic conditions, and lack of use of preventive services (USD- Between Jan. 21 and July 21, 2011, NewzGroup identified 1,919 articles that HHS, 2010). Low health literacy is estimated to cost the nation $106 billion to $236 used the search terms. The articles were clipped, scanned into electronic packets billion annually. In rural areas, in particular, more residents have low health literacy and sent to the Foundation, which provided them for this analysis. levels (Zahnd, Scaife, & Francis, 2009). This study used a codebook with 31 questions to assess the types of articles, the While the relationship between media coverage of health issues and health lit- content, and the quality of the information presented. Many of the coding catego- eracy has not been clearly defined, research suggests that media coverage does play ries were based on the previous work of Cohen et al. (2008), Mangello’s (2010) some role in health literacy (Hinnat & Len-Rios, 2009) and may be a contributing review of health news content analysis, and an unpublished pilot study (Hoover and factor in higher health literacy levels (Paek, Reber, & Lariscy, 2009). Cross, 2009) on rural health reporting in Kentucky.

28 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

Inter-coder Reliability: Two coders, one of whom was the lead author of the tributed 6.4%. The remaining articles came from government press releases (3.2%), study, were trained to perform content analysis by practicing coding together. Their syndicated columns (1.8%), nonprofit press releases or reports (1.7%), business practice led to several in the codebook. Once coders were comfortable with the press releases (0.1%), and other sources (1.2%). categories, each separately coded 50 packets of articles, a total of 222, to establish Kentucky Health News: This news service primarily aggregates and customizes inter-coder reliability. The coding was performed using Qualtrics, an online survey health coverage for Kentucky news media, but also conducts original reporting software, and the data were analyzed with the Statistical Program for the Social and sends the stories to newspapers. Among the 52 Kentucky Health News articles Sciences (SPSS). The Krippendorf’s alpha, a gauge of reliability, for each measure identified in the clips, 47, or about 90 percent, were original articles. is reported below. Items that did not reach the threshold of .667 recommended by It should be noted that this category did not capture articles that were written by Krippendorf (2004) are not reported. After obtaining reliability, the remaining ar- newspaper staff members but were based on or inspired by Kentucky Health News ticle packets were coded and analyzed. reporting or ideas. The service regularly encourages newspapers to do their own Article Identification: The first two questions in the codebook assessed wheth- stories and provides sources for them to do so. er articles belonged in the study. The first question identified the newspaper that Wire services: Among the 154 wire-service stories, The Associated Press pro- published the article. Articles printed in newspapers published in a major city one of vided 92, or 59.7 percent. Few weekly newspapers in Kentucky are AP members. three major metropolitan regions of Kentucky (Lexington, Louisville, and Northern Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. provided 38.3% of the articles classified as Kentucky-Cincinnati) were removed from the study (N=354, Krippendorf’s α = wire service. CNHI publishes five daily and six weekly newspapers in Kentucky, .935) because the cities are not rural and the regions contain relatively little rural some in metropolitan areas but serving a significant rural audience. It has a cor- area. respondent in Frankfort who covers issues including health, and distributes articles In Kentucky, most newspapers’ primary circulation areas are defined by the to its papers, which it make independent editorial judgments about which articles to boundaries of the county in which they publish. The great majority are based in publish, according to the company. county seats, and most of the 120 counties have only one local newspaper. Reprints: Almost half the articles (48.7%) reprinted from another news source The second question assessed whether the article was primarily about health. originally appeared in another Kentucky newspaper in this study. These articles In order to be included in the study, the coders had to assess whether the focus of most frequently came from The Independent of Ashland (part of a metro area with the article was on a health illness, a health topic, a health-related policy (including Huntington, W.Va.), which has the largest circulation among CNHI’s Kentucky pa- funding), or another health-related issue. An additional 355 articles were removed pers. The remainder of the reprints came from the two largest papers in Kentucky, from the study because the articles were not primarily about health, such as stories, The Courier-Journal of Louisville (16.7%) and the Lexington Herald-Leader editorials and columns relating to the legislature. That left 1,208 articles for analysis (33.3%), which were excluded from this study because of their urban locations. (Krippendorf’s α = .727). Photographs and graphics: Because research has shown that photographs and graphics draw readers’ attention and convey information in a way that may be more Statistical results effective than story text, the clips were examined for those features. Coverage The vast majority of the articles (82.7%) had no photographs. Among those with RQ1 asked: Do rural Kentucky newspapers regularly publish articles about pictures, most (13.4% of the total) had one photo; 2.2% had two and 1.7% had health? Of the 164 papers included in the analysis, 131 published one or more three or more. Headshots of the author of a column or a story were not counted as health-related articles during the study period. These papers published, on average, a photograph. 9 articles during the six-month period. The median number was 4, and the mode Graphics (defined as maps, charts, lists, and illustrations) were even less com- was 1. Most of those articles (61%) were identified as news stories, followed by mon, occurring in only 5.2% of the cases. opinion pieces (25%). News briefs accounted for 8% of the sample. Letters to the Article placement: Another factor that can determine whether an article gets editor and feature articles were 4.1% and 1.4%, respectively. a reader’s attention is its placement in the newspaper. Most health stories (71.4%) Locale: The geographic emphasis of the stories was usually the state of Ken- were placed on an inside page; most of the rest were on Page 1, with a majority of tucky or the geographic region where the newspaper is published. More than half those (14.6% of the total) placed on the top half of the page. A small number (3.1%) the stories (51%) had a statewide focus while 41% had a local emphasis, meaning were on a section front; most rural Kentucky newspapers typically have only one most events described in the article took place within the geographic region where section. the newspaper primarily circulates, usually the county where it is based. The re- Sources of information in articles: This factor can illustrate the extent of re- maining articles (8%) had a national or international emphasis. search and reporting that goes onto an article. Valid inter-coder reliability could not be reached for the number of sources of Resources dedicated to health reporting information within an article (Krippendorf’s α =.619), but when ranges of numbers RQ2 asked: What resources do rural Kentucky newspapers dedicated to health were used, inter-coder reliability was reached (α= .819). stories as measured by staff-written stories, article placement, photographs, and Just over one-third of the health articles (33.6%) had four or more sources of in- graphics? The results indicate that rural newspapers dedicate few resources to re- formation besides the author. Most articles (43.2%) contained two or three sources. porting health stories. Almost one-fifth (23.2%) had one or fewer sources. More than a fifth of the health articles (22.6%) did not have a clearly marked author or source. Newspapers typically identify staff-written articles longer than a Health topics few paragraphs as staff-written. RQ3 asked: What the health topics are most frequently reported by rural Ken- Of the articles with a clearly marked author or source, the most common was a tucky newspapers? The analysis showed that rural newspapers ran stories that ad- staff member or local columnist: 44.2%. Another 0.4% of the articles were wire- dressed a wide range of topics, but the clips were dominated (35.6%) by 430 stories service stories to which a staff member contributed. Wire services provided 16.5% about health care funding and policy issues, including Medicaid. The initial figures of health articles, and reprints from other newspapers (which may have been ob- for other topics were: tained through a wire service) provided 8.3%. Kentucky Health News, a free ser- 146 12.1% Drug and alcohol use vice of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, accounted for 5.6% of the health articles. 115 9.5% Tobacco and smoking Elected officials, largely legislators writing about health issues during their leg- 104 8.6% Diet, obesity and/or exercise islative session, wrote 10.6% of the articles. Community members and readers con- 50 4.1% Health warnings and advisories

29 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

27 2.2% Abuse Initially, valid inter-coder reliability could not be reached on the use of health 22 1.8% Individual-level health-care costs disparities within an article (Krippendorf’s α =.57). However, when the data were 19 1.6% Cancer recoded to reflect one category for statistical health disparities instead of two (gen- eral and specific), intercoder reliability was reached (Krippendorf’s α =.83). 13 1.1% Mental health The analysis showed that most articles (80.3%) did not contain a reference to 7 0.6% Oral health health disparities. Approximately one-fifth (19%) used statistical information to 3 0.2% AIDS, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases convey health disparities. Only one article used narrative information or a combi- 2 0.2% Diabetes nation of narrative and statistical information to convey health disparities. 2 0.2% Heart and circulatory problems Additional online research: During the first three months of 2012, the Institute 2 0.2% Reproductive and sexual health for Rural Journalism and Community Issues surveyed independent, online-only lo- 1 0.1% Birth defects and prematurity cal news outlets in rural Kentucky to determine their prevalence and content. It identified 18 such outlets, mainly in Western Kentucky due to a group operation, 1 0.1% Stroke but with some in all major areas of the state. 264 21.9% Other categories The survey found that with a single exception, health was not a major factor in Since more than a fifth of the articles were identified as “other,” a secondary the content of the reviewed sites. Fulton Kentucky News featured a link from its analysis was conducted to re-categorize topics identified in that category. That health menu to Medical News Today, a database specializing in adapting medical showed the same pattern as above, except that public-health issues and general press releases. By aggregating this data, the site was able to connect with readers health status were identified as significant topics. seeking health care stories. In this study, Fulton provided nearly three-quarters of In this secondary analysis, the largest category was again stories about funding the total health coverage delivered by all sites reviewed during the period. and policy issues (457, or 37.8%). Other large categories included drug and alcohol use (147, or 12.2%), tobacco and smoking (115, or 9.5%), exercise and diet (104, 8.6%), public health issues (89, or 7.4%), general health status (83, or 6.9%), the Analysis business of health care (45, or 3.7%), individual health care costs (29, or 2.4%), These results show that that there is a shortage of health reporting in rural Ken- abuse (27, or 2.2%) and children’s health issues (26, or 2.2%). These categories ac- tucky newspapers, and a lack of quality among much of the coverage that is pro- counted for 92.9% of the articles originally categorized as “other.” The remainder vided. fell into categories that each accounted for less than 2% of the total: cancer, men- While it was beyond the scope of this study to measure the amount of health tal health, oral health, electronic health records, health literacy, diabetes, sexually reporting compared to other reporting, the results suggest that few articles dealing transmitted diseases, heart and circulatory problems, reproductive health, stroke, with health appear in rural Kentucky newspapers on a regular basis. and other. In a six-month period, the 19 daily newspapers in this study issue approximately Relevance: The figures show that Kentucky’s rural newspapers are giving sig- 2,964 editions (average of 6 per week x 26 weeks x 19). The 145 weekly news- nificant coverage to drug and alcohol use, tobacco and smoking, and issues related papers, some of which publish twice or thrice weekly, issue approximately 4,160 to obesity, diet and exercise. All three are significant health problems in Kentucky. editions (est. 160 per week times 26 weeks). Thus, the study period covered a time However, the state also ranks high in heart and circulatory problems, including during which approximately 7,100 separate newspaper editions were published, stroke, and many types of cancer, and has by some measures the worst oral health with 1,208 articles primarily about health — about one every six editions, though in the nation. Yet, these subjects received miniscule coverage in the news clips the state’s premature-death rate, a common measure of relative health status, is 20 provided for this study. percent higher that the U.S. rate, according to KentuckyHealthFacts.org, operated Legislative session: Almost one-third of the articles were related in some way by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. to coverage of health policy questions before the Kentucky General Assembly. The Given the state’s poor health status and the need to improve it, we believe this legislature meets in odd-numbered years from January until late March, and its study fairly concludes that Kentucky newspapers are not devoting enough resourc- business typically drives a large portion of news coverage in the state during that es to reporting on health or devoting space for publication of reporting by others. time. Almost one-third of the articles (28.7%) were related to the legislative ses- It shows that many major health issues are rarely covered by rural newspapers, sion, either containing a reference to the General Assembly or a bill or issue being and even when such issues are covered, the articles often do not contain informa- considered by the legislature. tion that explains the causes of health problems and the larger context of a health issue. In addition, it is rare for newspaper stories to mention — let alone examine Context — health disparities. RQ4 asked: Do stories about health in rural Kentucky newspapers provide information about the scope of the health issue or problem being reported? This Additional examples and interviews with weekly editors research question was addressed by assessing the amount of context in an article and publishers about a health topic. Context was defined as the information the story provided Following this analysis, nine editors and/or publishers of weekly newspapers in about the causes of a problem, its seriousness, and any national or regional discus- rural Kentucky were interviewed to in an attempt to determine their level of interest sion about the issue. Initially, valid inter-coder reliability could not be reached on in covering health issues. The interviews generally followed a template that began the degree of context within an article (Krippendorf’s α = .324). However, when with a general question and then narrowed the focus to health coverage. the data were recoded to reflect the presence or absence of context, inter-coder reli- When asked to name the primary community issues their newspaper covers, ability was reached (Krippendorf’s α =.787). none of the editors mentioned health (though one in Eastern Kentucky said the Almost three-fifths of the articles (59.5%) contained some context, while 40.5% biggest issue in his county is prescription drug abuse, and another mentioned meth- offered no context about the importance or the causes of the health topic being amphetamine, an illegal drug). discussed in the article. However, when asked if their newspaper perceives that it has a role in covering rural health issues in a similar manner as economic development or education, they Health disparities all said yes. That is not borne out by the clips analyzed above. RQ5 asked: Do stories about health in rural Kentucky newspapers discuss The lack of coverage in the clips was also reflected in a later set in April 2012, health disparities? with the release of the latest set of County Health Rankings by the University of

30 grassroots editor • fall-winter 2012

Wisconsin Population Health Institute in collaboration with the Robert Wood John- petition to follow generally timid editorial policies. “It’s opening a bag of worms son Foundation. While the clips from that month do not appear to be complete, they don’t want to open,” he said. “They don’t want to offend.” there was a clear pattern: Good news was reported and bad news was mostly not. This journalist took the county health rankings story to a level seen by no other The clips had six stories about the rankings, most of them from counties that paper in Kentucky, questioning how his county had risen significantly in rank from scored relatively well: 20th, 27th, 35th and 38th. The Mount Sterling Advocate did one year to the next, and publishing a story that explained the change was largely a story about Montgomery County’s ranking of 86th and quoted the county health the result of a statistical anomaly and a relatively small sample. He also built a department’s education director on possible reasons for the ranking and what the special health section around localized information sent to him by the Institute for department plans to do to improve it. The story gave the rankings for the adjoining Rural Journalism and Community Issues, and filled the section with locally re- counties. ported and written stories. The other story in the clips came from the McCreary County Record, where the The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues holds up such work headline called the very poor county’s rank of 117th “dismal.” It cited health fac- as examples for others to follow. The director (co-author of this report) tells rural tors such as high rates of smoking and uninsured residents, and a very high rate of editors and publishers that a newspaper should stand for something, and “If a news- children in poverty. It also gave the rankings of the adjoining Kentucky counties, paper can’t take a stand for better health care and better health, then what in the another example of reporting of health disparities. world can it stand for?” In the interviews, some editors and publishers seemed to define local health is- Limitations: There are several limitations to this study. The news stories ana- sues not in terms of the prevalence of diseases or disorders, but as stories about lo- lyzed were gathered by a commercial news clipping service, and, for cost reasons, cal institutions. Three of the nine mentioned their local hospitals as prime examples the number of search terms used by the company was limited. In addition, the study of local health coverage, and their comments also illustrated how most health cov- period included a legislative session where there was a long debate on how to deal erage is reactive, not proactive. with a Medicaid shortfall. The inclusion of those articles probably skewed the data. “The hospital and the health department come to us when they want something Conclusion: Given the role the news media can play in improving health lit- promoted but that’s about it,” said the publisher of an independently owned weekly eracy, and the intimate position of rural newspapers in their readers’ lives, this in Appalachian Southern Kentucky. analysis suggests that the lack of health coverage in rural newspapers represents “We cover things at the hospital as they pop up,” said the editor of a CNHI- an opportunity to improve health literacy in rural populations by increasing the owned weekly in a nearby Appalachian county of 21,000 people. She said the hos- number and quality of health stories in rural newspapers. The results suggest that pital calls “if they have something they think is newsworthy.” more work needs to be done to encourage rural newspapers to improve the quality The paper is among those that do an annual health section, a product that appears and the quantity of reporting on health issues, or their willingness to devote space to have become more common in recent years. Such sections are typically sup- to reporting done by others. ported by advertising from health-care providers, who often provide articles for the Finally, more work needs to be done to understand how rural newspaper edi- sections. A weekly in a smaller, adjoining county recently used Kentucky Health tors regard health issues, whether they understand health disparities, what resources News articles to fill its special health section. they need to improve their health reporting, and how they can overcome their natu- Asked what obstacles might prevent them from covering community health is- ral reluctance to “turn over rocks” that may reveal a less than favorable picture of sues, most editors cited a lack of staff. Because Kentucky has many small counties their communities but also help community members recognize the problems, do (a total of 120 counties for 4.3 million people), and is a relatively poor and under- something about them and make their communities more attractive and healthy educated state, many of its rural newspapers have relatively weak circulation and places to live and work. advertising bases that make it difficult to field full-fledged news staffs. Some editors said they are not sure how to access information needed to ad- References equately cover some health topics. “I guess we don’t always know where to get Bandura, A. (1969). Social-learning theory of identificatory processes. In D.A. some of the information that would be useful to us,” said one editor whose paper Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research (pp. 213-262). Chi- has been relatively active in health coverage. cago: Rand McNally. The last question to the editors was, “Is there a reluctance, at your paper or other Bressers, B. (2005). Staff, time, space constraints limit coverage of children’s papers, to report on your community’s poor health status because it reflects poorly health issues. Newspaper Research Journal, 26(2/3), 124-132. on the community?” Cohen, E.L., Caburnay, C.A., Luke, D.A., Rodgers, S., Cameron, G.T., & Only one of them said it was, but another said “I can see that happening at other Kreuter, M.W. (2008). Cancer coverage in general-audience and black newspapers. papers,” and a Western Kentucky editor-publisher said editors or publishers of two Health Communication, 23, 427-435. doi: 10.1080/10410230802342176 other papers had told him they did not publish their county’s health rankings “be- Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, www.KentuckyHealthFacts.org, retrieved cause they were so low.” He said another paper downplayed the story. July 15, 2012. The editor-publisher who acknowledged a reluctance to make a special effort to Garfrerick, B.H. (2010). The Community Weekly Newspaper: Telling Ameri- report on community health problems was Dennis Brown, who has been owner of ca’s Stories. American Journalism, 27(3), 151-157. the Lewis County Herald in Vanceburg, in Kentucky’s northeastern corner, for 25 Gasher, M., Hayes, M., Hackett, R., Gutstein, D., Ross, I., & Dunn, J. (2007). years. “I don’t like to write stories that reflect poorly on the community,” he said. Spreading the news: Social determinants of health reportage in Canadian daily “I’m part of it. I like to make it look as good as we can. I think we bring to light newspapers. Canadian Journal of Communication, 32(3/4), 557-574. what we need to.” Hinnant, A., & Len-Ríos, M. E. (2009). Tacit understandings of health literacy: Brown said he is willing to run “well written” material about the county from Interview and survey research with health journalists. Science Communication, outside sources, and has editorialized in favor of a local ordinance against indoor 31(1), 84-115. smoking, a stand he said was not popular in the very rural county where tobacco is still grown and many cigarettes are smoked in local restaurants. He said he grew Hoover, A.G., & Cross, A. (2009). Health coverage in Kentucky’s community tobacco for 40 years, and has a smoking area in his place of business for employees newspapers: The key word is local. Institute for Rural Journalism, University of who smoke. Kentucky. (Presented at Priester National Extension Health Conference, 2009.) The Western Kentucky editor-publisher said it is common for rural weeklies that Jensen, J. D. (2011). Knowledge acquisition following exposure to cancer news may be one or two major advertisers away from losing money and fear upstart com- articles: A test of the cognitive mediation model. Journal of Communication, 61(3), 514-534. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01549.x

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Kline, K.N. (2011). Popular media and health: Images and effects. In T.L. healthcomm/objective2.htm Thompson, R. Parrott, & J.F. Nussbaum, The Routledge handbook of health com- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2010). National action plan munication, 2nd Ed. (pp. 252-348). New York: Routledge. to improve health literacy. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov/communication/ Krippendorf, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. hlactionplan/ Thousand Oakes, Calif.: Sage Publications. Wallington, S., Blake, K., Taylor-Clark, K., & Viswanath, K.K. (2010). Manganello, J., & Blake, N. (2010). A study of quantitative content analysis of Antecedents to agenda setting and framing in health news: An examination health messages in U.S. media from 1985 to 2005. Health Communication, 25(5), of priority, angle, source, and resource usage from a national survey of U.S. 387-396. doi:10.1080/10410236.2010.483333 health reporters and editors. Journal of Health Communication, 15(1), 76-94. McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda setting function of the doi:10.1080/10810730903460559 mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36, 176-87. Weaver, D.H. (2007). Thoughts on agenda setting, framing and priming. Journal National Newspaper Association (2011). Facts and figures. Retrieved from: of Communication, 57(1), 142-147. http://www.nnaweb.org/?/nnaweb/community02/87/. Weinstein, N.D., Sandman, P.M., Blalock, S.J. (2009). The precaution adop- Ndiaye, K., Krieger, J.L., Warren, J.R., & Hecht, M.L. (2011). Communica- tion process model (pp. 123- 147). In K. Glanz, B. Rimer, & K. Viswanath (Eds.), tion and health disparities. In T.L. Thompson, R. Parrott, & J.F. Nussbaum, The Health behavior and health education. New York: Jossey-Bass/AHA Press Series. Routledge handbook of health communication, 2nd Ed. (pp. 469-481). New York: Zahnd, W., Scaife, S., & Francis, M. (2009). Health literacy skills in rural and Routledge. urban populations. American Journal of Health Behavior, 33(5), 550-557. Paek, H., Reber, B., & Lariscy, R. (2009). Roles of interpersonal and media socialization agents in adolescent health literacy: Proposing and applying a health Al Cross is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at socialization model. Conference Papers — International Communication Associa- the University of Kentucky and can be contacted at [email protected]. Sarah Vos tion, 1-37. is a doctoral student in Communication, Journalism and Telecommunications at Stryker, J., Moriarty, C. M., & Jensen, J. D. (2008). Effects of newspaper cover- the university and was a master’s degree student during this research, which was age on public knowledge about modifiable cancer risks. Health Communication, supported in part by a grant from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. This 23(4), 380-390. doi:10.1080/10410230802229894 paper was presented at the “Newspapers and Community-Building Symposium,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2003). Objective 11-2. Im- co-sponsored by the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas provement of health literacy. Healthy People 2010. Retrieved from Office of State University and the National Newspaper Association and the NNA Founda- Disease Control and Promotion Web site http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/projects/ tion at the NNA’s 126th annual convention in North Charleston, S.C., Oct. 5, 2012.

Press Freedom: Keep an eye on Iceland from page 27 Cuba, Mexico, Pakistan and Russia. “We in the Western world, including Australia ship in the U.S. comes in a different form, more subtle as corporate influence is the and New Zealand, live in enviable societies that are pretty safe,” Ágústsson said. foundation of much of the media messages we receive and digest. Björnsdóttir, who has lived and worked in the U.S., earning a master’s degree RWB’s slogan “Don’t wait to be deprived of news to stand up and fight for it” from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, ac- rings true as I acknowledge and appreciate the relative liberty I enjoy as my fellow knowledges that Icelandic reporters generally enjoy a high level of freedom, but journos in Cuba, Mexico, Pakistan and China, among other countries, work and “there is no such thing as perfect press freedom.” live in repressive states − in some cases requiring reporters to have special training on how to persevere in their profession amid threat. Back in the USA Thankfully, as an American journalist who has worked for 20 years in the United Jennifer Karchmer is an independent journalist who monitors and reports on free- States reporting for both MSM (mainstream media) outlets and small independent dom of the press worldwide. She is a senior instructor at Western Washington Uni- community newspapers, I have operated comparatively unrestricted and free of versity and a volunteer correspondent for Reporters Without Borders. She is based physical threats or attacks because of the words I print or say. However, censor- in Bellingham, Wash. She can be contacted at [email protected].

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