The cat's out of the bag now: Kentucky is home to one of journalism's rising stars

Grant Gerstner after being presented first place in print reporting 
at the CFINR annual awards ceremony. (Photo via the Era)

Grant Gerstner, the editor of The Oldham Era and the Henry County Local for Paxton Media, won "one of the nation’s most prestigious journalism awards during a May 19 ceremony in Washington, D.C., when he received first place in the print reporting category during the Center for Integrity in News Reporting’s annual awards ceremony," reports the Oldham staff.

Gerstner's award-winning series followed the path of a controversial data center build planned in Oldham County. He succeeded in out-writing competition from "major publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and others," they add. He is the first Kentucky-based reporter to win the award, which comes with a $25,000 prize.

The CFINR judges praised Gerstner's reporting as remarkably fair and thorough. The Era reports, "The judges singled out the work for what is often hardest in small-market reporting: covering a contested local issue from start to finish without taking a side, and trusting the reader to understand the trade-offs."

Era and Local Publisher Jane Ashley Pace praised Gerstner's work as an example of the important part media can play in a community, saying, "Grant's coverage became a trusted source of information and proves why local newspapers like the Era are so important."

Gerstner graduated from South Oldham High School in 2019,  the Era reports. "He later joined the Era and Local in 2024 after graduating from the University of Louisville."

Gerstner told reporters, "Winning this award is the honor of a lifetime, and it is made all the sweeter by the fact that my reporting followed one of the largest issues in the history of my hometown."

Quick hits: SS Edmund Fitzgerald mystery remains; internet carriers team up; complex beef pricing; what to wear for extreme-weather reporting

At 729-feet, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the longest ship traveling through the Great Lakes
before it was 'swallowed' by Lake Superior. (Wikipedia photo) 

It's still a story investigative reporters are exploring: What caused the massive SS Edmund Fitzgerald to sink 17 miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin? "On November 9, 1975, the ship left Superior, Wisconsin, with more than 26,000 tons of taconite pellets aboard. By the next evening, Lake Superior had swallowed the Edmund Fitzgerald whole," reports Andrew Daniels of Popular Mechanics. "One answer may be the ship’s cargo hatches. Ric Mixter, who visited the Fitzgerald wreck in the 1990s, said that if he could return, he would take photos of every hatch clamp and investigate where the taconite ended up." Read Pop Mech's deep dive on the famous ship's final voyage here. Listen to Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad about the fate of the Edmund Fitzgerald and its 29-member crew here. 

It's expensive for U.S. ranchers to increase their herds.
(Photo by Daniel Quiceno M, Unsplash)

Why can't farmers just raise more cattle so the price of beef will come down? "Ranchers say it's not that simple," reports Jack Dura of The Associated Press. "It’s never been so expensive for Americans to buy a steak or hamburger. … The dwindling number of cattle is a key reason the average price of all uncooked ground beef in the U.S. was $6.86 per pound in March." Even with high beef demand and high prices, ranchers still have to consider the cost of adding to their herd. Livestock owners are already paying more for the cattle they do have because drought and wildfires have left ranchers no choice but to pay for additional feed and water to be delivered to herd sites. 

Despite efforts to get the entire country online, many U.S. residents still live in areas without internet access, but that problem could soon change. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Communications announced that they are "setting aside their differences and forming a joint venture that will help end wireless dead zones across the U.S., especially in rural and underserved areas," reports Connor Hart of The Wall Street Journal. "The companies said the initiative will help the U.S. extend its global leadership in wireless communications technology … "

Handwritting letters is good for the human brain.
(Photo by T.D. Aran, Unsplash)

Handwriting letters may seem more than a trifle old-fashioned, but revisiting the aged tradition of letter, pen and stamp can reap benefits. Elizabeth Passarella of The New York Times writes, "Research shows that writing by hand lights up multiple parts of your brain — areas that are associated with creativity, memory and your senses — in a way that emailing does not. … Unlike chatting, writing makes you slow down and decide which details of your life are meaningful enough to share." Readers interested in tips to get started with a letter-writing habit can click here.

Whether it's tornado, wildfire or hurricane season, journalists need to be ready to hit the natural disaster beat. But first, preparations need to be made, and extreme-weather reporter Judson Jones is here to help reporters look good no matter what Mother Nature blasts. "Shortly after returning from a trip to chase hailstorms, Jones gave me a rundown of his core outfit packing list that keeps him ready for any assignment," reports Kyle Fitzgerald of Wirecutter. "We talked about why the way he unpacks is as important as the way he packs, as well as the need to bring multiple hats." After years of trial and error, Jones has even found a jacket that keeps him dry during hurricane rain and winds and is stylish enough to wear to dinner post-storm reporting. Read his picks and tips here. 

The world loves American cheese and butterfat products.
(Photo by Edward Howell, Unsplash)

Global cheese and butterfat demand continues to climb, helping American dairy farmers slice off profits even as milk production continues to increase. Cheese exports in March broke records with "over 63,435 metric tons exported, which is an all-time high for single-month exports," reports Sarah Jungman of Dairy Herd Management. The 2026 gain represents a 29% jump in cheese exports over March of 2025. "Butterfat and anhydrous milk fat exports also set a single-month record at 17,074 metric tons shipped, 109.9% higher than March of 2025." During the first quarter of 2026, Mexico exported the largest chunk of American dairy products. 

Nominations sought for the Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism by June 15

Tom and Pat Gish

Each year the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues presents the national Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism, named for the couple who exemplified those qualities as publishers of The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Ky., for 52 years.

Nominations for the Gish Award may be made at any time, but the deadline for new nominations to be considered for this year's award is Monday, June 15. The winner will receive the award at an event in Lexington, Ky., on Oct. 22.

To make a nomination, please send a detailed letter explaining how the nominee shows the kind of courage, tenacity and integrity that Tom and Pat Gish demonstrated at their weekly newspaper in the Central Appalachian coalfield. They withstood advertiser boycotts, business competition, declining population, personal attacks, and even the burning of their office to give their readers the kind of journalism often lacking in rural areas, and were the first winners of the award named for them. Tom died in 2008 and Pat in 2014. Their son, Ben, is the editor and publisher of the Eagle and serves on the award selection committee.

Additional documentation may be submitted after the nomination, and may be requested or required. Send your nominating letter, initial documentation and any questions to Institute Director Benjy Hamm at benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Institute seeks nominations that measure up, at least in major respects, to the records of the Gishes and other previous winners. Other winners have been the Ezzell family of The Canadian Record in the Texas panhandle; Jim Prince and Stanley Dearman, current and late publishers of The Neshoba Democrat in Philadelphia, Miss.; Samantha Swindler of The Oregonian for her work at The Times-Tribune in Corbin, Ky., and Jacksonville Daily Progress in Texas; Stanley Nelson and the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La.; Jonathan and Susan Austin of the Yancey County News in North Carolina; the late Landon Wills of the McLean County News in Kentucky; the Trapp family of the Rio Grande Sun in northern New Mexico; Ivan Foley of the Platte County Landmark in northwestern Missouri; the Cullen family of the Storm Lake Times-Pilot in northwest Iowa; and Les Zaitz of the Malheur Enterprise in eastern Oregon. In 2019, the award went to three reporters whose outstanding careers revealed much about the coal industry in Central Appalachia: Howard Berkes, retired from NPR; Ken Ward Jr., then with the Charleston Gazette-Mail; and his mentor at the Gazette, the late Paul Nyden. In 2020 the award went to the late Tim Crews of the Sacramento Valley Mirror; in 2021 to the Thompson-High Family of The News Reporter and the Border Belt Independent in Whiteville, N.C.; in 2022 to Ellen Kreth and the Madison County Record of Huntsville, Ark.; in 2023 to Craig Garnett of the Uvalde Leader-News in Texas; in 2024 to Eric Meyer and the Marion County Record in Kansas; and in 2025 to Lisa Stayton and The Mountain Citizen of Inez, Kentucky.

The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky, is focused on helping sustain journalism in rural communities in the United States through information, expertise, training, outreach and other programs.

When reporters explore National Parks, stories and trails abound

A hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from California through Oregon to Washington state. (Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management, Flickr Creative Commons via SEJ)

For journalists looking for a break from the grind, taking a National Park excursion might be an assignment worth requesting. "Tell your editor you have to do it for work," writes Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "It doesn’t have to be a long hike, necessarily. But it’s a good way to meet other hikers to interview."

Before setting out, it's worth considering which kind of park your audience would find most interesting. Davis explains, "There are four kinds of national trails: scenic, historic, recreational and side trails. To be officially named historic or scenic, a specific stretch of trail must be designated by Congress."

Besides intriguing people stories that can be gleaned while hiking over hill and dale, regaling readers with the history of America's National Park system, which includes 1,300 trails, also provides good storytelling fodder. "It goes back to Daniel Boone, Henry David Thoreau and John Muir, really. Read Thoreau’s essay, 'Walking.'" Davis adds. "President Lyndon B. Johnson gets big credit for the enactment in 1968 of the National Trails System Act."

For community journalists ready to don their hiking gear, sunscreen and EPA-approved insect repellent, an adventure and several stories await. Story ideas by Davis are shared below:

• The system includes some long-distance trails, like the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. Spend some time on the trails (or at a good shelter). Talk to day hikers and through hikers. Explore their culture. You may need to get a trail name.
• The system doesn’t just include hiking trails. Some are also meant for biking, paddling or historical tourism. Talk to biking and paddling groups about their experiences. The Harriet Tubman trail network on Maryland’s Eastern Shore includes a fine museum on the Underground Railroad.
• Trails are often maintained by local or regional volunteer groups, like the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Attend one of their maintenance events and talk to volunteers and organizers. Bring a shovel.
• Where the trail crosses a major road, there may be a handy grocery or ice cream store. Hang out there during the heat of the day and talk to hikers coming in. 
• Not all the great trails are in the system. Find the ones near you. For example, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa pulls in riders from all over the United States. It’s hot in July, but there’s great support. 
• The Anacostia Water Trail is an officially designated part of the trail system. It’s short. But if you look … beyond, you will find it’s just one of many other (often nonfederal) water trails, which are a great way of exploring stories in your ecoregion.

Davis suggests these resources:

• Rails to Trails Conservancy: A nonprofit membership group that advocates conversion of abandoned rail rights of way into hiker and biker trails.
• American Hiking Society: A nonprofit membership and advocacy group whose members like to hike.
• National Park Service: The main agency coordinating the National Trails System. It has maps.
• State parks and recreation agencies: These usually manage state trails. Find yours in this directory.

Quick hits: Mississippi bans lab-grown dairy; Lawyers for Reporters; pay phones help boomers and zoomers connect

State-level bans like Mississippi's can restrict access to the 
 lab-grown dairy industry. (Photo by A. Chaudhary, Unsplash)

Mississippi is the first state to ban lab-grown dairy after passing a bill effective July 1, reports Karen Bohnert for Dairy Herd Management. Lab-grown dairy is "produced through precision fermentation or cell-culturing techniques" and often referred to as "fake milk," Bohnert explains. The bill, HB 1153, requires strict labeling requirements and updated authority to state inspectors to prevent the manufacture, sale and distribution of cell-cultured dairy throughout the state, Bohnert reports.

Lawyers for Reporters, created by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, is a free resource for American local and public-interest journalism organizations needing legal services, reports Tandy Lau for E&P Magazine. There's a five-person in-house legal team based in New York offering assistance, and they partner with outside counsel for extra support in farther areas. Managing Attorney Kay Murray told E&P they "really guide [journalists] to ensure that they've got the backup to get it right, that they are confident about getting it right [and] that their understanding with their sources is something that everybody is on the same page about." They hope to soon provide more support for investigative reporting and coverage of immigration issues as well. "If I was trying to quantify the value of [Lawyers for Reporter's assistance], it would add up to easily tens of thousands of dollars if not well into the six figures," Warwick Sabin, CEO and president of Deep South Today, told E&P.

A new study found a long-term shift in cancer death trends, with rural areas facing higher cancer death rates than urban areas in recent years, reports Dennis Thompson for U.S. News & World Report. Previously, between 1969 and 1971, “large cities had the highest overall cancer death rates, followed by small- to medium-sized cities.” However, rural areas had the highest rates in 2021 to 2023, and large cities had the lowest rates. Specifically, lung cancer deaths among rural men were 26% lower than city dwellers in 1969 to 1971, but 55% higher in 2021 to 2023. Researchers said the shift and continuously widening gap is “likely driven by limited access to health care, lower cancer screening rates, higher poverty, more smoking and other lifestyle and environmental factors” in rural communities.

In a new social experiment by Matter Neuroscience, two old payphones set up at a nursing home in Nevada and near Boston University allow "zoomers" and "boomers" to call each other from 3,000 miles apart, reports Scottie Andrew for CNN. Designed to help people feel less lonely, this pilot project will last at least a month, according to Matter Neuroscience. "Friendship could come in all ages. Wisdom can come in all forms, and we just want people to get out of their comfort zone and have a conversation," Matter Neuroscience social strategist Calla Kessler said.

GM announced it will be adding a day of factory
production to it heavy-duty truck line. 

General Motors is increasing its heavy-duty truck production, as consumer demand remains strong despite rising gas and diesel prices, reports Christopher Otts for The Wall Street Journal. GM's Flint Assembly plant in Michigan will operate six days a week now, rather than five, producing more heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, Otts reports. Workers will be "mandated into overtime hours to cover the additional day of production," explains Otts. As gas prices have risen by about one-third since the beginning of the Iran war, GM's stock has declined about 10% so far this year, and forecasters predict new-vehicle sales to fall 6.5% in the first quarter.

Tips and resources for reporting on crime data

The CDC has an active dashboard that maps death rates across the country 
by Census tract, county or state. (CDC map)

Tips from a recent webinar with three crime data experts, narrated by Clark Merrefield of The Journalist's Resource, can help local journalists report on crime trends, fact-check law enforcement, discuss policy, and foster a dialogue about community safety. An edited version of Merrefield's tips from the discussion is shared below.

Get to know The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub, which meets three major needs for crime data research and reporting:

• The help desk, where anyone "can ask questions of reporters and editors at The Trace," Merrefield writes. "Reach out for help understanding gun violence in the areas you cover; collecting, cleaning and analyzing data on gun violence."
• A resource page that houses fact sheets, guides, and a glossary, which can aid in investigations of all sizes.
• The data library for "trustworthy data on a range of gun violence topics, from ghost guns to suicide to road rage," Merrefield notes. "The library includes data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Transportation Security Administration and many others."

Explore data focused on public safety research and data:

• The WONDER database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes numbers on gun deaths and compressed mortality data.
• The Gun Violence Archive, which "tracks gun violence incidents across the country from more than 7,500 sources, including law enforcement agencies and news media reports," Merrefield writes.
• The Mapping Police Violence provides up-to-date data on police-involved killings in the U.S. 
• The CDC dashboard, which maps violent death rates across the country by Census tract, county or state. 

 Learn which data can help you fact-check statements from public officials.

"Beyond published data on reported crimes, victimization surveys are a major source of crime data that journalists can use to vet statements from officials," Merrefield explains. "The best known is the National Crime Victimization Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. This survey each year reaches a nationally representative sample of roughly 240,000 people and asks whether they have been victims of personal or property crimes — and why the crime was or wasn’t reported to police."

To identify trends in a specific area, aim for at least 5 years of data.

If data doesn't make sense, question it. If it can't be verified, don't use it.

Merrefield's webinar panel experts included: Jeffrey A. Butts, a research professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Executive Director of the John Jay Research and Evaluation Center; Mensah M. Dean, a staff writer at The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom that covers gun violence; and George LeVines, editor of The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub, which is open to the public. 

Spring is coming: Tips on exploring regional bird populations and what readers can do to help them rebound and thrive

The Kirtland's warbler was listed under the Endangered Species Act for more than 
50 years. (Photo by Joel Trick, Flickr Creative Commons, CC by 2.0 via SEJ)

Much of the steep decline in U.S bird populations since 1970 has been caused by human activity, which also means that human activity can reverse that trend. Local environmental journalists can uncover how people are harming birds and help readers learn how to help them recover. 

"If you look deeper into the causes of their decline, it will lead you to many other stories that are the bread and butter of environmental journalism: chemicals, land disturbance, local ecosystems and more. Also, insect decline," writes Joseph A. Davis for the Society for Environmental Journalists. 

As winter slowly slips into spring, bird populations will begin migrating again. Now is a good time to plan stories that explore how birds in your region are faring and provide readers with information that will help them enjoy the wonders of spring migration while supporting bird survival.

Davis provides the following information for journalists.   

Story ideas:

• What were the findings of the Christmas Bird Count in your area? They’re just out — find them here. Talk to local experts about the reasons for the decline of favorite species.
• Find out which migrating bird species go through your area. Where do they stop to rest or feed? What geographic features do they follow?
• Do your bird migrants fly at night? Weather radar images of bird migrations at night make for cool graphics. BirdCast is one good place to find them.
• What can homeowners do to help or hurt bird populations? Lawn chemicals? Native plants? Bird feeders (in my town, we call them cat feeders)?
• What are the ecological features that offer the best habitat and food to birds flying through your area? Coastal wetlands? Prairie potholes?
• How do birds sleep when they migrate? This Associated Press article is very suggestive.
• Are H5N1 bird flu or other diseases hurting the population of migrating birds in your area? Talk to wildlife biologists.
• What has the Trump administration done to strengthen or weaken the enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act?

Reporting resources:

• Cornell Lab: Cornell University’s Ornithology Laboratory is a treasured resource for anyone who wants to know more about birds.
• Merlin: This smartphone app goes anywhere with you and helps you identify birds, not only by their appearance but also by their songs and calls. Made by Cornell Lab. You need this app. Download it free here.
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: USFWS runs a fleet of some 570 wildlife refuges, many of which are rest stops for migrating birds. They often have interpretive staff or even bookstores.
• American Birding Association: Another membership association with local chapters. A good way to meet local birders.
• Local wildlife refuges: Beyond the national system, there are many state, local and private sector refuges which are open to the public. Talk to staff.
• State wildlife agencies: A good way to zero in on your particular area.
• Academic ornithology departments: The Wilson Ornithological Society has a nice list of serious ornithology programs.

For more about bird reporting, go to: TipSheets on how the simple backyard bird feeder can lift local environment reporting, and on declining bird populations, talking to birders and the problems of lead ammunition, plus a Reporter’s Toolbox on a bird migration explorer. Also, get the latest EJToday headlines about birds

Study: Gen Z journalists may be avoiding rural newsrooms

Some younger journalists worry that rural newsrooms
might be too conservative for them. (Adobe Stock photo)

Gen Z journalists may be steered away from rural newsrooms due to a lack of knowledge in jobs available, as well as concerns of salary, politics, social life and career advancement potential, according to a new study involving students in the United States and Canada.

To examine why students in their late teens to early 20s are not attracted to working in rural areas, journalism professor Teri Finneman of the University of Kansas and instructor Tyler Nagel of Southern Alberta Institute of Technology surveyed 183 of their local mass communication students to ask how they felt about the possibility of reporting in rural communities, writes Tandy Lau for E&P Magazine.

Shared below is a Q&A on why some students who were surveyed find reporting in rural areas to be unappealing and what newsrooms may be able to do to attract younger journalists.

Q: Why aren’t more journalist students aware of available jobs in rural areas?
A: Some journalism schools are only teaching their students about journalism at a national level and not providing the context of journalism at a rural level. Eighty percent of Kansas respondents said they had not been taught about rural journalism in their classes at all, so they didn’t know what jobs there are available.

Q: Why are students concerned about salary?
A: While rural newsrooms often have a lower cost of living, students still have financial concerns. The Kansas respondents said they face student debt while the Canadian respondents face a current housing crisis.

Q: Why might students be concerned about politics?
A: Kansas students, particularly those with diverse backgrounds, responded they fear not being welcomed in rural communities due to polarizing politics and rural areas leaning red.

Q: How can rural newsrooms combat concerns of a lack of social life and career advancement opportunities?
A: Communicating with young journalists still in school is key in opening rural opportunities for them. Modernizing job descriptions, communicating opportunities to grow into leadership roles, creating a network for young journalists to socialize, and incentivizing the possibility of taking over a rural paper are a few of the recommendations by Finneman and Nagel after conducting their study.

Newsrooms in Kentucky discuss using artificial intelligence in local reporting

Marlowe's opinion on using AI to help with reporting 
has changed. (Photo by Lily Burris, WKMS)

News organizations in Western Kentucky are looking for ways to use artificial intelligence to improve reporting without sacrificing audience trust. 

Journalists at WKDZ, which is a part of Edge Media Group along with stations in Hopkinsville, Madisonville, Princeton and Elkton, are "figuring out how to integrate the newer technology into their workflow," reports Lily Burris of WKMS in Murray, Kentucky.

Edge Media Group’s CEO and owner, Beth Mann, told Burris, "AI is a technology that's changing. … We discuss AI every single day, and it is part of our conversation and training in all of our weekly meetings.”

Mann isn't alone in her search for the proverbial where, when, how and why of AI implementation in community reporting. Chris Evans, publisher and editor of the Crittenden Press in Crittenden County, regularly uses AI to get his job done. Burris reports, "A series of Associated Press webinars about AI usage in journalism made Evans feel more comfortable with the tool and helped him establish his 'guardrails.'"

Alex Mahadevan, director of the AI Innovation Lab at the Poynter Institute, "advises newsrooms on the ethics of implementing AI," Burris writes. "He said the big question in journalism is how much AI-generated content audiences should see and how to disclose when it’s used to maintain trust with them."

Over time, some reporters have changed their minds about using AI. "Edward Marlowe, a reporter at WKDZ since mid-2021, said two years ago he would’ve told someone it was out of the question if they’d asked him about AI. … Now [he] uses it for certain tasks," Burris adds. 

Evans thinks that as smaller news outlets get used to AI alongside their audiences, it may help local news services stay afloat. "Cost is a major factor in why Evans believes smaller newspapers could benefit from AI, especially those that can’t afford another employee," Burris adds. 

Research shows that government transparency decreases without newspapers

Photo by Ashni, Unsplash

A study comparing freedom of information requests in relation to news deserts showed that governments were less transparent in states that had fewer newspapers, Gretchen A. Peck reported for Editor & Publisher.

“These initial studies show that newspapers make a difference. They hold governments accountable, especially to budgets,” David Cuillier, study researcher and former newspaper editor, said in an interview with Peck. “Local governments are more likely to be careful with our tax dollars and less wasteful. Engagement improves. Voting turnout improves. … Newspapers matter in saving democracy.”

Cuillier also expressed his worries about restrictions on journalism in the current political environment.

He cited the removal of access to White House visitor logs, websites and data, and other files and information pertaining to department activities. Cuillier also mentioned the administration’s “battle” against journalists through financial, legal and prohibitive means.

“There are huge things going on right now that we haven’t seen before, starting with the president not releasing his tax returns, unlike all other presidents,” Cuillier said. “The list goes on and on.”

Data center developments offer plenty of community reporting opportunities

U.S. data center infrastructure, with the relationship between the data center locations, transmission infrastructure and fiber optic networks. (NREL map, click to enlarge)

While rural areas may receive an economic boost from data center development in their community, the sprawling energy and water needs that AI hubs require can impact an entire region.

Data centers are a "relatively new kind of industrial infrastructure that environmental journalists may want to pay attention to," writes Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists.

In areas that experience extremes of heat or cold, power-hungry AI can strain local electrical grids that may already be struggling to meet daily demand for local businesses and homes.

In addition to energy-gobbling, data centers also require enormous amounts of fresh water. Many communities across the U.S. are grappling with ongoing droughts and depleted aquifers. A data center build could leave its community thirsty.

According to Davis, here are story ideas to consider and ways to gather information:

• Find the data center(s) nearest you. Ask the PR people for a tour. There are helpful maplike resources from the National Renewable Energy Labs, Datacenters.com and Visual Capitalist.
• What is the power situation in your data center region? Do you ever have brownouts or energy conservation requests during AC season? Talk to your nearby electric utilities about load management.
• What zoning and permits do your burgeoning data centers need in order to build and operate? Have they got all the approvals they need? Did local authorities make any concessions to usual rules? Tax breaks?
• Where does the cooling water for your local data center, if any, come from? Are permits needed? What happens to the water that is discharged, and what are the heat effects on aquatic systems?
• How many jobs will be created during the construction of the data center? How many jobs after it is operating? Can local people fill them?
• Is your planned data center creating its own power plants to operate? Are they fossil-fueled? Green-powered? Nuclear? What are the environmental consequences?

Reporting resources:

• Data Center Coalition: This trade and lobbying group calls itself “The Voice of the Data Center Industry.”
• Utility companies: Power for many data centers comes from local electric utilities. Check in with your local utilities to see what requirements they have imposed (or waived) for the data center. Here’s a starting list.
• Zoning or planning boards: Siting of industrial facilities often requires approval from such bodies, or city and county councils. Find out what actions are pending and go to the meetings.
• Public utility commissions: Every state has a PUC that regulates local utilities. Check in with your PUC to see if your data center meets requirements. Here’s a list.

Journalists can apply by Dec. 7 to attend program on "Saving Local News: A Practical Guide"

Kiplinger Fellows 
(Photo from Kiplinger website)

Journalists can apply for a 2026 Kiplinger Fellowship by Dec. 7 to join journalists from across the United States and around the world for a week of learning with top industry leaders and professionals.

The focus of the Kiplinger Fellowship will be on "Saving Local News: A Practical Guide" and will be held at the Scripps College of Communication on the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio, May 11-14, 2026.

The Kiplinger Fellowship is a program that trains journalists to tackle critical issues that impact the industry. Fellowships provide lodging, most meals, free training and include a travel stipend.

The Institute for Rural Journalism at the University of Kentucky and the Local News Initiative at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism will be helping with the program as well. 

Application instructions are found here. Click here to apply.

Reporting on Addiction launches hub for journalists covering opioid addictions, deaths and settlement dollars

As opioid settlement money continues to be divvied out to state and local governments, reporters can help their communities understand where the money is coming from and discern who and how their regional governments are spending it.

Reporting on Addiction, a collaborative project of the Opioid Policy Institute and 100 Days in Appalachia, provides reporters with an "Opioid Settlement Resource Hub" filled with robust story ideas and insights to use when covering the history, dollar amounts, tools and impact of opioid settlement funds in local communities.

For journalists looking to explain the history of opioids in the U.S. and the background of the settlements, the hub provides story angles and questions for reporters to consider, as well as examples from reliable news sources for context.

Once an audience knows more about how opioid addictions and overdose deaths negatively impacted their community and how settlement spending plans aim to spur recovery, journalists can create community-specific settlement tracking tools that serve as a valuable public resource. The hub provides links for numerous ways to investigate and report on settlement spending.

Is it working? Journalists can help their audiences measure if opioid settlement plans and spending are slowing the opioid crisis within their communities. Stories that evaluate the results and how plans evolve will become increasingly crucial as programs are implemented and more data becomes available.

The Mountain Citizen of Inez, Ky., wins the 2025 Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism

A scrappy little newspaper that has fought for more than 30 years for clean water and open government in its Appalachian county is the winner of the 2025 Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism.

The Mountain Citizen is a weekly paper serving the 11,000 people of Martin County, 231 square miles along Kentucky’s northeastern border with West Virginia. For decades, the Citizen has been the key watchdog on the local water district, which has long had problems providing clean and adequate supply, and on coal companies and local government.

Tap water in Martin County often runs brown, and the Citizen’s efforts prompted state Public Service Commission investigations of the Martin County Water District in 2002, 2006 and 2016. This year, the paper revealed that a state agency had failed to correctly calculate Martin County’s scores in a water-funding competition for poor and underserved counties, and that in 2018 the county’s water was some of the most corrosive in the nation, more so than in Flint, Michigan, in 2015.

“The Mountain Citizen has spent decades overcoming obstacles and opposition to inform its community about serious problems with its water supply and other important issues,” said Benjy Hamm, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism. “Its work represents the best of rural journalism and everything the Gish Award was established to honor – courage, integrity and tenacity.”

In recounting the paper’s water work, owner Lisa Stayton wrote, “When you live here and see your neighbors carrying bottled water into their kitchens, you understand this is about survival. And you worry because you know that many of your neighbors can’t afford to buy bottled water and are drinking tap water that you wouldn’t drink yourself.”

The paper’s water reporting began in 1993, when it revealed that a coal company had so badly cracked the bed of a creek that it had to put a plastic liner in the creek to keep its water out of an underground mine. The paper reported several coal-slurry spills, then got an important scoop in 2000 when it obtained and published maps of a defunct mine that was the conduit for a massive spill from a surface-mine pond, which polluted streams and valleys with an estimated 250 million tons of waste.

When the Citizen forgot to renew its corporate charter in 2000, its corporate name was legally claimed by the water district’s board chairman, who had been the subject of critical reporting by the newspaper. The paper kept using its name, defying a court order, and was fined for contempt of court, but after two years the state Court of Appeals threw out the charge and the fine.

Though the paper’s future was in jeopardy, then-Editor Gary Ball, a former coal miner, continued its strong stances. When the state attorney general’s office announced it would have investigators in the field for the 2002 general election, he told the Lexington Herald-Leader that they were “paper tigers” who were six weeks late, since the groundwork for vote fraud is laid well before an election.

In 2003, the Citizen reported that the county schools spent nearly $250,000 on travel over four years, including airfare for spouses of board members, prompting the schools to refuse complimentary copies that the newspaper had sent to all classrooms. In 2012, the paper challenged the school board’s private discussion of the superintendent’s contract and was upheld by a binding opinion from the state attorney general. In the same year the attorney general ruled the paper was entitled to child-abuse records withheld by the state.

The Citizen was founded in 1990 as a consolidation of the Martin County Mercury and The Martin Countian, a newspaper that had won national attention for the crusading reporting and editorial stances of owner-publisher Homer Marcum. The Citizen took similar approaches; when the school system was no longer required to publish the names and salaries of teachers, the paper did that on its own. It withstood competition from other newspapers and by 2001 was the county’s sole paper.

The award is named for Tom and Pat Gish, who published The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Kentucky, for more than 50 years. Their son and successor, Ben Gish, is on the award selection committee. “I read The Mountain Citizen regularly (we trade subscriptions),” he wrote. “They do a really good job.”

Stayton and the Citizen will receive the Gish Award Nov. 13 in Lexington, Ky., at the annual Al Smith Awards Dinner of the Institute for Rural Journalism. The dinner will also include presentation of the Al Smith Award for public service through community journalism by Kentuckians to Bill Estep, who recently retired from the Lexington Herald-Leader after chronicling the stories of Appalachian Kentucky for more than 40 years.

 

The keynote speaker will be Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies.

Other Gish Award winners have been the Ezzell family of The Canadian Record in the Texas panhandle; Jim Prince and Stanley Dearman, current and late publishers of The Neshoba Democrat in Philadelphia, Miss.; Samantha Swindler of The Oregonian for her work at The Times-Tribune in Corbin, Ky., and Jacksonville Daily Progress in Texas; Stanley Nelson and the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La.; Jonathan and Susan Austin of the Yancey County News in North Carolina; the late Landon Wills of the McLean County News in Kentucky; the Trapp family of the Rio Grande Sun in northern New Mexico; Ivan Foley of the Platte County Landmark in northwestern Missouri; the Cullen family of the Storm Lake Times-Pilot in northwest Iowa; and Les Zaitz of the Malheur Enterprise in eastern Oregon.

In 2019, the award went to three reporters whose outstanding careers revealed much about the coal industry in Central Appalachia: Howard Berkes, retired from NPR; Ken Ward Jr., then with the Charleston Gazette-Mail; and his mentor at the Gazette, the late Paul Nyden. In 2020 the award went to the late Tim Crews of the Sacramento Valley Mirror; in 2021 to the Thompson-High family of The News Reporter and the Border Belt Independent in Whiteville, N.C.; in 2022 to Ellen Kreth and the Madison County Record of Huntsville, Ark.; in 2023 to Craig Garnett of the Uvalde Leader-News in Texas; and in 2024 to Eric Meyer and the Marion County Record in Kansas.

Local journalists who cover community planning can use EPA's 'Walkability Index' to help with stories

Visitors to wine and water tourist-haven Door County, Wis., might be surprised that the county has few sidewalks, which leaves the area with below-average walkability scores (in yellow and orange). Click to enlarge.

When local officials include walkability in their community plans, it benefits the environment, local businesses and residents. It's also an important factor for journalists to understand and explore.

To help measure walkability, the Environmental Protection Agency offers a National Walkability Index for "zoning boards, planners and public works departments [and] the reporters who cover them," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. Access the index here.

The EPA's tool uses high-quality data, and "It’s mapped," Davis adds. "There’s an intuitive, searchable, zoomable online map product with an easy-to-use, fast interface."

Walkability ratings include things such as "sidewalks, crossings, transit stops, etc. Ultimately, these things are drawn from the EPA’s Smart Location Mapping database," Davis writes. "The EPA sorts places into rural, suburban, urban and downtown."

This database can help journalists report on what planners refer to as the "built environment," Davis reports. "Walkability requires good local government decisions and adequate local resources. That means money. . . . A lot of local government decisions and resources go into walkability."

Uncovering your community's walkability data is just the beginning of a story. "You still have to talk to people on the street, … er, sidewalk," Davis adds. "As always, check and groundtruth everything you can."

A virtual chat on Sept. 17 will explain how journalists can track and report on opioid settlement fund spending

As part of its mission to help journalists cover opioid lawsuit settlement fund spending in their communities, Reporting on Addiction will host a virtual chat with Mississippi Today’s Allen Siegler and Kate Royals on Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. EST. 

Interested journalists can register here.

During the 30-minute session, Siegler and Royals will discuss:

• How to explain settlement spending with audiences that need specific and clear details on why opioid spending is vitally important to the future health of their communities.
• Outline how they work together -- as reporter and editor -- to shape stories that include complex public health and financial information that readers understand and find engaging.
• Tips on how to pitch accountability stories that get approved.

Siegler is Mississippi Today’s mental health reporter. He has reported on public health for nonprofit newsrooms such as Mountain State Spotlight, an investigative outlet in West Virginia, and Healthbeat, a startup with bureaus in Atlanta and New York City. He holds a master of public health degree.

Royals became Mississippi Today’s managing editor in June. She previously served as the newsroom’s community health editor. Under her leadership, the health team won the 2023 Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Reporting for its series “Shaky Science, Fractured Families,” which she co-reported.

Reporting on Addiction is a collaborative movement staffed by media professionals working to decrease addiction stigmas by sharing leading practices for covering all types of addiction.

Nominations sought for the Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism by Aug. 11

Each year the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues presents the Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism, named for the couple who exemplified those qualities as publishers of The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Ky., for 52 years.

Nominations for the Gish Award may be made at any time, but the deadline for new nominations to be considered for this year's award is Monday, Aug. 11. The winner will receive the award at an event in Lexington, KY, on Nov. 13. 

Eric Meyer and the Marion County Record in Kansas received the award in 2024. 

To make a nomination, please send a detailed letter with some documentation explaining how the nominee shows the kind of courage, tenacity and integrity that Tom and Pat Gish demonstrated at their weekly newspaper in the Central Appalachian coalfield. They withstood advertiser boycotts, business competition, declining population, personal attacks, and even the burning of their office to give their readers the kind of journalism often lacking in rural areas, and were the first winners of the award named for them. Tom died in 2008 and Pat in 2014. Their son, Ben, is editor and publisher of the Eagle and serves on the award selection committee.

Additional documentation may be submitted after the nomination, and may be requested or required. Send your nominating letter, initial documentation and any questions to Institute Director Benjy Hamm at benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Institute seeks nominations that measure up, at least in major respects, to the records of the Gishes and other previous winners. Other winners have been the Ezzell family of The Canadian Record in the Texas panhandle; Jim Prince and Stanley Dearman, current and late publishers of The Neshoba Democrat in Philadelphia, Miss.; Samantha Swindler of The Oregonian for her work at The Times-Tribune in Corbin, Ky., and Jacksonville Daily Progress in Texas; Stanley Nelson and the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La.; Jonathan and Susan Austin of the Yancey County News in North Carolina; the late Landon Wills of the McLean County News in Kentucky; the Trapp family of the Rio Grande Sun in northern New Mexico; Ivan Foley of the Platte County Landmark in northwestern Missouri; the Cullen family of the Storm Lake Times-Pilot in northwest Iowa; and Les Zaitz of the Malheur Enterprise in eastern Oregon. In 2019, the award went to three reporters whose outstanding careers revealed much about the coal industry in Central Appalachia: Howard Berkes, retired from NPR; Ken Ward Jr., then with the Charleston Gazette-Mail; and his mentor at the Gazette, the late Paul Nyden. In 2020 the award went to the late Tim Crews of the Sacramento Valley Mirror; in 2021 to the Thompson-High Family of The News Reporter and the Border Belt Independent in Whiteville, N.C.; in 2022 to Ellen Kreth and the Madison County Record of Huntsville, Ark.; in 2023 to Craig Garnett of the Uvalde Leader-News in Texas; and in 2024 to Eric Meyer and the Marion County Record in Kansas.

The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which is based at the University of Kentucky, is focused on helping to sustain journalism in rural communities in the United States, through information, expertise, training, outreach and other programs.

Contaminants may be lurking in beach, lake or 'old swimming hole' water. Local reporting can help readers swim safely.

Read water safety warnings before diving in.
(Photo by Joseph Two, Unsplash)

Want to go for a swim? Sounds appealing, but it's best to see what's in the water before donning your flippers and face mask. 

"A stark 1,930 out of 3,187 beaches sampled across the nation in 2024 experienced at least one day on which indicators of fecal contamination exceeded federal safety levels, a new report has revealed," Sharon Udasin of The Hill reports. "The Gulf Coast had the biggest share of beaches with at least one unsafe day in 2024, reaching 84%, followed by the West Coast, with 79%, and the Great Lakes, with 71%."

The list of diseases swimmers can get from contact with contaminated water includes "cryptosporidium, some forms of filariasis (not elephantiasis), Legionnaires' disease, swimmers' itch, swimmers' ear, typhoid, giardiasis, salmonella, schistosomiasis, campylobacter … and more," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. Many of the listed diseases are spread when swimmers swallow fecal-contaminated water. Research confirms almost all recreational water activities cause swimmers to ingest at least a small amount of beach, lake or pool water.

Historically, the U.S. strives to maintain "fishable, swimmable waters. That’s the stated goal of the 1972 Clean Water Act," Davis adds. "The nation certainly hasn’t met the goal yet — but it is still trying. . . . Under the CWA, the Environmental Protection Agency sets nationwide 'criteria.' These state how clean water must be for any particular use (like swimming or total body contact recreation)."

Each state has its own water pollution control agency that determines "specific uses (like swimming) for each lake, stream or estuary within its borders, and regulates discharge permits to reach the criteria for those uses," Davis explains. "That’s the theory, anyway."

For community journalists, reporting on local "water hole" quality could be information readers will appreciate. Story ideas by Davis are shared below:

• Where do people in your audience area go to swim in the summer? How far away are they willing to go? Go there and talk to people.
• Are there beach closings in your area? Why? It’s often storm discharges from sewer systems. What are the records of your local sewage and stormwater agencies on storm discharges? Have they ever been cited for permit violations?
• What do your state and local health agencies say about the incidence of waterborne illness from local swimming areas? Are the diseases common or uncommon?
• Talk to managers and patrons of local pools, public and private. Talk to the swim coaches. Have they ever had a swimmer out because of waterborne illness?
• Are there ever algal blooms in your local swimming waters? Are they harmful?
• Talk to people whose water recreation mainly involves things other than swimming: sailors, skiers, parasailers, etc.
• Is there a community health center near your swimming area? Go there and talk to the staff about water contact diseases.

The Natural Resources Defense Council offers a new map of lead pipes, which are a problem in all 50 states

For investigative reporters tracking lead pipes that still deliver drinking water, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s new Lead Pipe Data Map Tool is a smart place to start exploring.

“Whether you want the local or the national perspective, this data map looks to be the most current and detailed available,” reports Joseph A. Davis of the Society of Environmental Journalists. “We care about lead in drinking water because it is a neurotoxin that robs children of IQ points and causes a host of other health problems, even in adults.”

The news about lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan, may have sparked outrage, but “lead pipes in water systems are a serious problem in all 50 states,” Davis writes. “The Environmental Protection Agency updated its Lead and Copper Rule in October 2024. . . .The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of November 2021, committed $15 billion to fund the replacement of lead service lines that take water from mains to individual buildings (the main source of the problem).”

Under the new Lead and Copper Rule, all drinking water systems must inventory their lead service lines and report their findings to the EPA. “Much of the data comes from the EPA as utilities report in,” Davis explains. “The map not only tallies known lead service lines — but also service lines whose metal composition is unknown or estimated.”

To use the data efficiently, focus on the NRDC’s mapping tools and remember that utility service areas can differ from municipal boundaries. Davis reports, “One of the nifty features NRDC gives you is the ability to add multiple overlays to the map as you use it.” 

Find the tiny icons in the top-left and top-right corners of the map to alter map layers. The mapping overlay feature can also show active lead pipes according to their congressional district.

While data and numbers don’t tell the full story, they provide a good foundation for a narrative to take shape. Davis also advises gathering information from your community:

• Ask water customers about their awareness of lead pipes carrying drinking water. What's their ability to pay for service line replacement?
• Talk to utilities about their plans and concerns regarding pipe replacement. 
• Discuss drinking water safety and remaining lead pipes with state and EPA/state regulators.
• Ask your congressperson how budget cuts could affect funding for this critical work.

Microgrant deadline extended for reporting on opioid settlement funds

Reporting on Addiction, a collaborative movement staffed by media professionals working to address addiction, is extending its deadline to apply for 2025 microgrants for journalists reporting on opioid settlement funds in Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey or New York.

June 20 is the new deadline. Apply here.

As billions in opioid settlement funds enter the U.S. economy, how that money will be spent is unclear. Especially for individuals, families and communities touched by the opioid and fentanyl crisis, having journalists who use their investigative skills to follow who spends the money and on what is of vital importance. Watchdog reporters are needed as a primary, trustworthy source for people who want to hold public officials accountable for how these funds are used to address the addiction crisis.

To support this vital journalistic effort, Open Society Foundations is partnering with Reporting on Addiction to offer four microgrants ($500–$1,000 each) for journalists reporting in Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey and New York to investigate how opioid settlement funds are being allocated and spent.

Grants will support long-term reporting that help your audience understand the opioid settlements and show them where and how funds are being spent. Priority will be given to submissions focused on:

• Spending (or a lack of spending) related to evidence-based prevention, addiction, harm reduction, treatment and/or recovery.
• Issues with waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement of opioid settlement funds.
• Incorporating the perspectives of impacted community members.
• Helping communities understand the spending decision-making process (or lack of process).

Story pitch requirements: Pitches can be for any platform, print, digital, radio, television, podcast, etc. Freelancer submissions are welcome, but must have a letter of support from a publisher.

Grant awardees will receive free training: Awardees must agree to attend two virtual Reporting on Addiction trainings, share their final story, and have a commitment from a newsroom editor to publish their reporting by Feb. 1, 2026. Freelancers should secure a publication commitment before applying and supply supporting documentation.