Conversations on Community Journalism – Part 1

https://www.westerniowajournalismfoundation.com/

“Between 2004 and 2019, a total of 2,100 papers across the country – all but 70 of which were weeklies – shut down. This substantial loss of community newspapers left almost half of the counties in the country with just one newspaper – usually a weekly. Furthermore, in 2019 a total of 171 counties in the country did not have a paper at all. And according to the Pew Research Center between 2008 and 2020, total U.S. newsroom employment has dropped 26%. The upshot of these numbers is that news deserts are emerging across the nation, and this dearth of community news threatens democracy.

This video is part one of a conversation between three community journalists in western Iowa seeking a solution to the financial crisis facing locally-owned newspapers and the communities they serve. Host Kyle Munson, president of the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation, interviews Lorena López, editor of LaPrensa Iowa, Doug Burns, publisher and editor of the Carroll Times Herald, and Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Times.

The Western Iowa Journalism Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization established in 2020. Our mission is to educate, inform and engage residents throughout Western Iowa by supporting community journalism to ensure long-term access to accurate local news and investigative reporting.

Part one of three.