Rich rural reporting ditches the cliches and dives into 'rural stories that reflect the full range of rural experience'

Carlson, left, interviews an artist about using eucalyptus
bark for screen printing. (Photo by Joel Cohen via SEJ)

Rural places aren't cliche or boring and reporting on them shouldn't be either. If you're a rural reporter, you already know that part, but what can journalists from all walks of life do to make the diversity of rural Americans come to life for non-rural readers?

First off, ditch the political stereotypes, writes Claire Carlson for the Society of Environmental Journalists. She writes that rural voters are often blamed for "today’s particular brand of right-wing extremism, as embodied by Donald Trump. . . Yet data shows that arrestees from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection . . . were no more likely to be from a rural area than an urban or suburban location."

Rural folk aren't one-dimensional white Republican-leaning voters any more than city folk are all mindless, liberal Democrats. For reporters who want to get past the cliches, Carlson suggests, "We can start by talking to rural residents about the issues they’re facing rather than only going to the academics and professionals. . . . If you don’t know how to make those local connections, ask your expert sources for suggestions on who from the community you should talk to."

If you want to explore rural life, reporters can "seek out and tell rural stories that reflect the full range of rural experience," Carlson explains. "East Palestine, Ohio, is a good example of this. The 2023 train derailment that spilled hazardous chemicals in this community inundated national headlines. . . . The town became known for its tragedy. But what was this place before a train derailment defined it? None of the stories I read ever told that part of the story." Find that angle. 

"Good and interesting things happen in rural places just as often as in urban ones," Carlson adds. "It’s up to us to tell those stories, too, if only to offer people an understanding of rural America that reflects the nuance and diversity that has always been there."