Report for America seeks service-minded journalists and photographers: Application deadline is Feb. 16

Report for America, the national service program that places early-career and experienced journalists and photographers in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities, is accepting applications for new corps members.

The application deadline is Feb. 16, with references due by Feb. 23. The upcoming program start date is July 13. Apply here.

If you are passionate about service-minded journalism, you might be a good fit for one of RFA's 70 journalism positions open in newsrooms of all types, including digital startups, daily and weekly newspapers, and radio and TV stations. An interactive database of their openings, newsrooms and reporting beats is found here.

Report for America is a two-year program, with an optional third year. Their members are part of a national movement to strengthen communities and democracy through truthful, fair local journalism.

Answers to commonly asked questions can be found by reading FAQs. Contact the Report for America recruitment team at recruitment@reportforamerica.org. 

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

Reminder: Apply by Oct. 20 to host a journalist with support from Report for America

The deadline for newsrooms to apply to host a reporter with financial support from Report for America is Oct. 20. A sample application can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/4oLOt71

Report for America is an organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.

Host newsrooms receive the following benefits:

• A reporter committed to the newsroom for two years
• Half of the salary of the reporter will be paid during the first year and 33% of the salary the second year
• Training and mentoring for the reporter
• Assistance with fundraising to cover the newsroom’s portion of the reporter’s salary through Report for America’s Local News Sustainability Team
• Access to a network of other host newsrooms for collaboration

A stop in Rock County, Minnesota, reignites memories of a dynamic war-time reporter that comes with a twist

Al Cross

During a trip to the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors conference, Al Cross stopped to pay tribute to the late Al McIntosh, a World War II reporter and local newspaper publisher. The trip yielded some surprising connections.

Luverne, Minnesota, is in Rock County, the southwest corner of Minnesota, just east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. When I saw Sioux Falls consumed one day’s itinerary of the annual conference of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, which recently elected me to its board of directors, I planned a side trip to Luverne – for reasons that started out esoteric but turned out to be quite meaningful.

I was interested in Luverne and its newspaper because Ken Burns and Tom Hanks had told me a lot about them – in Burns’ 2007 documentary “The War,” about the American home front during World War II. Burns focused on four towns: Mobile, Ala., Waterbury, Conn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Luverne, a county-seat town of 5,000 on the Rock River (the one in the Missouri River basin).

The unexpected star of the documentary, at least for me, was Al McIntosh. He was editor of the Rock County Star Herald before, during and after the war. He chronicled the home front in such compelling detail that Burns said his team’s discovery of the newspaper’s carefully stored bound volumes (dating to 1873) was “in some ways . . . the single greatest archival find that we have ever made.” Hanks, who voiced McIntosh’s writings for the documentary, was so taken by them that he pushed Burns to use more of them, and Burns did.

“He had this task of explaining the unexplainable to his fellow neighbors,” Burns said. “He did so magnificently, and wrote as beautifully as any editor I’ve ever come across."

Al McIntosh at his desk (PBS website photo)

McIntosh started his war journalism even before the U.S. entered the fight, with a piece about a woman who had survived the blitz of London and was visiting her brother in Rock County: “She has had her best friends killed. Looking out at the peaceful countryside from the Thompson porch, she said it was hard to believe the rest of the world was at war.” That was in the first written quotation of the show, which introduced McIntosh as a North Dakotan who “had turned down big-city jobs to run his own small-town paper. He would soon find himself trying to explain the unexplainable to his new neighbors.” 

When the documentary premiered on PBS, I wrote a short story for The Rural Blog, a publication of the University of Kentucky’s Institute for Rural Journalism, which I ran at the time. As I watched the show and heard Hanks read McIntosh’s evocative writings, I got choked up. Here, in what most Americans might call the middle of nowhere, a weekly newspaper editor was capturing the courage, loss, sacrifice, resolution, pathos and daily grind of being a small-town American in our most demanding war.

So, if I was going to Sioux Falls, I was going to Luverne, at least to pay my respects at the grave of Al McIntosh, who died in 1979. When I looked it up on Findagrave.com, a wonderful resource, I found something flabbergasting. McIntosh’s obituary, posted on the site, revealed that he was the author of an editorial column that formed the basis for the first speech I ever gave, in 1965, when I was 11 years old. 

Desperate for a topic for the 4-H speech contest, I saw the headline “I Am a Tired American” in one of the many newspapers that reprinted the editorial, originally titled “A Tired American Gets Angry.” A few weeks after I gave the speech, I became the official scorer for the local baseball leagues, which included writing them up for the weekly Clinton County News, where I got my first byline.

Al McIntosh’s editorial was a reactionary screed against a host of things that he thought were wrong with the country and its critics (mostly the latter), and young Al Cross parroted most of the complaints. My meager effort earned me third place in the contest, but the experience gave me enough confidence to enter and win the following year, then become a color commentator on baseball games, which led to me becoming a licensed radio announcer at the age of 13. (In those days you had to get a license, by passing a test.) I kept my hand in journalism, and edited and managed weekly papers before spending 26½ years as a reporter at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, the last 15½ as political writer and columnist, then 20 years at the University of Kentucky.

I still write occasional political columns for the Northern Kentucky Tribune and other news outlets. As a political observer, I see McIntosh’s most-published piece as a harbinger of today’s tribulation. “I am a tired American,” he wrote, “choked up to here on this business of trying to intimidate our government by placard, picket line and sit-in by the hordes of the dirty unwashed who rush to man the barricades against the forces of order, law and decency.” 

But he also was “sickened by the slack-jawed bigots who wrap themselves in bedsheets in the dead of night and roam the countryside looking for innocent victims.” And he said he was “real tired of those who are trying to sell me the belief that America is not the greatest nation in all the world, a generous-hearted nation, a nation dedicated to trying to help the 'have nots' achieve some of the good things that our system of free enterprise brought about.”

In Al McIntosh’s day, it was not unusual for weekly editors to editorialize about state, national and international questions. Now most papers, even weeklies, are owned by chains, most of which think too much opinion is bad for business. Even many independent papers shy away from publishing letters and columns about President Donald Trump, for fear of having to play referee in a mudball contest. So we don’t read much in weekly papers about national protest campaigns, racial issues, foreign aid and the like.

McIntosh has had some fine successors, including Michelle Erpenbach, who runs a major nonprofit in Sioux Falls, and Lori Sorenson, a Rock County native who has been at the family-owned paper for 33 years. She told me that she delves into national issues from time to time.

“Where appropriate and if it has bearing on our readers in Rock County, I will use our opinion page to voice concern about national issues,” Sorenson said in an email. “Rock County is a very RED and very religious county, and many are eagerly lapping up the disinformation that circulates on social media. I have written more than one editorial encouraging readers to be judicious about their ‘news’ sources and to remember that we are ‘community first’ despite occasional disagreements about national issues.”

Good for her. If we are to overcome the partisan and cultural divides that are bedeviling this country, I think it will most likely start in small towns like Luverne, where people know each other as neighbors and are still mostly willing to listen to each other, and agree to disagree.

Local newspapers have long been one of the best forums for a community to have a conversation with itself, but in many small towns, papers no longer play a leading civic role, for a host of reasons: they have failed to maintain circulation and household penetration, have owners who don’t want to make anyone mad, have smaller staffs with less time and talent for commentary, or they may even lack a local editor because the chain owner runs several papers as a group. All this has added to a shortage of local news, while news media and social media are dominated by national news, opinion and misinformation.

Every county in America deserves to have a news outlet that can help its audience be better citizens of their state and nation, not just their locality. Our nation would be a lot better off if we had lot more editor-publishers like Al McIntosh. May his example never be forgotten. 

Al Cross lives in Frankfort and Albany, Kentucky, and is on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, BlueSky and @ruralj. The Minnesota Newspaper Association presents the Al McIntosh Award to those who dedicate themselves to their communities through their reporting, editorials and columns. 

Reporting on addiction resources helps journalists approach alcohol use disorder with more accuracy and empathy

Reporting on Addiction offers an audio "Tip Sheet" for journalists who want to understand what alcohol use disorder is, address alcohol use stigma or enhance your community's understanding of the diagnoses.

Throughout April, which is designated Alcohol Awareness Month, journalists can access Reporting on Addiction's resources and learn the different parts of alcohol use, including prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. 

The tip sheet helps reporters approach alcohol issues with more accuracy and empathy. According to Reporting on Addiction, when journalists engage in informed reporting, they benefit their communities by helping to:

• Reduce the stigma associated with alcohol use disorder.
• Make the public more aware of available help and support services.
• Foster more productive community discussions and effective policies regarding alcohol.
• Ultimately improve overall community health and well-being.

Reporting on Addiction is on a mission to improve how the media discusses and depicts addiction in the news. The collaborative service offers education for professional and student newsrooms that uses addiction science experts, research-based reporting resources, an expert database, and a network of media professionals passionate about decreasing stigma and improving the media’s portrayal of addiction and recovery. Access their materials here.

Report for America offers dozens of positions for passionate journalists. Application deadline is Feb. 3.

Report for America, the national service program that places service-minded journalists and photographers in local newsrooms, is accepting applications for new corps members.

The application deadline is Feb. 3, with references due by Feb. 10. Apply here.

RFA is a two-year program, with an optional third year. Applicants need a minimum of 1 to 3 years of local news experience. Recent graduates may apply if they’ve had local newsroom internships or journalism leadership experience in college. The upcoming service year begins on July 7, and runs through July 6, 2026.

RFA corps members are part of a national movement to strengthen communities and democracy through truthful, fair local journalism. The program offers members a range of media placements, including digital startups, daily and weekly newspapers, and radio and TV stations.

To view RFA's interactive database of job openings, newsrooms and beats, click here. For more details about joining RFA, upcoming informational sessions can be found here.

Report for America is a national service program that places early-career and experienced journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities across the United States and its territories.

Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up.

Goal-setting can be an important part of improving your news organization

Benjy Hamm

By Benjy Hamm
Director, Institute for Rural Journalism

January is a time when many people set new goals for themselves. There’s something about a new year or a milestone birthday that makes people think more about planning, goals and self-improvement.

Even if you’re not one to make personal New Year’s resolutions, you still should think about what goals you would like for your department or newspaper to accomplish in the coming year.

People who operate day to day -- or week to week as the case may be with weekly newspapers – often don’t take enough time to think about the larger, more important goals for themselves and their news organization.

In many years of working with newspapers and online news sites, I watched as the advertising, circulation and business departments set specific goals for each year and measured their performance against those goals. Newsrooms at larger news organizations sometimes did the same thing, but I found that journalists at smaller newspapers often were reluctant to set goals for various reasons.

The No. 1 reason they cited: News is unpredictable and priorities are determined by the news. Other times, journalists said they were uncomfortable with trying to measure goals for news coverage and other content, with fears of clunky story quotas or forced adherence to pre-determined plans.

Those concerns are understandable, but they should not lead to the alternative – no goal-setting or planning.

One of the primary differences between a good news organization and a great news organization is planning. Another key difference is the ability to set important goals and reach them.

When I worked at Landmark’s community newspaper division, we realized that many of the annual strategic plans from our newspapers left out the newsroom. So, we asked each newsroom to establish department goals that would lead to improvements for readers, the newspaper and online site, and the community.

The newsroom’s goals need to be tied to the overall goals of the organization. That seems obvious, but sometimes the newsroom’s goals conflicted with the goals of other departments. For example, one newsroom developed a plan to increase coverage of an adjoining community at the same time the advertising and circulation departments were reducing their efforts in that community because of poor sales.

That exposed a problem with internal communication, among other issues, but at least the fact that the newsroom wrote down its goals led to a fuller discussion about newspaper-wide strategies. And if you think that lack of communication only happens at larger news organizations, then you might be surprised to learn that it occurred at a smaller weekly newspaper.

Goals also need to be specific and, as much as possible, measurable. Everyone needs to understand how you will achieve your goals. A lot of businesses set goals based on the SMART concept – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific. Using the SMART approach forces you to focus on the most effective ways to achieve your goals, such as clearly identifying the goal (specific), determining how you will know if you reach the goal (measurable) and establishing deadlines (time-specific).

We found that people who are new to goal-setting tend to use vague words such as “more” instead of specific measures. For example, if your goal is to increase coverage of high school sports in your region because that’s important for your audience and helps to differentiate you from a competitor, then you might be tempted to write a goal to do more coverage beyond football and basketball. But what does “more” mean? How many stories are you doing now on those other sports? What types of additional stories would benefit your audience? How specifically do you plan to increase coverage?

One way to judge a goal is to ask how you will know if you reach or exceed it.

Goal-setting should begin with discussions about what your audience and potential audience need and want from you as a news organization. What are you already doing well? How can you improve?

Maybe you think the newspaper is not doing enough editorials on local issues. Set a goal that will focus your efforts to improve for 2025.

Let’s say you want to set a goal to have “more” names of community members in the newspaper next year, which is an annual goal for some community newspapers. To determine what more means, you’ll need to know how many were published in the past year. But maybe you don’t have enough time now to go back through the past 12 months of newspapers to determine your baseline. Instead, you can review recent newspapers and establish a goal above those numbers. Another possibility is to establish a minimum goal for each issue and increase that number over time.

The point, of course, is not simply to establish numerical goals – but to tie those goals into improving readership, engagement and circulation while establishing the news organization as the leading source for news and information in your community.

Our time is limited, so it’s essential to focus on the most important goals. In my experience, managers and journalists who don’t take time up front to establish goals often waste more time through the year unnecessarily as they get sidetracked by the all-too-many everyday distractions.

Benjy Hamm is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism, which is based at the University of Kentucky. He previously served as editorial director for Landmark Community Newspapers, as an editor for The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group and as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press.

Small paper in Oregon wins its public records battle and receives Poynter Institute's First Amendment award

Les Zaitz

In 2017, Malheur County, Oregon, was promised a rail center that would change the economic future for the area. As the project got underway, Les Zaitz, publisher of the community's newspaper, the Malheur Enterprise followed its progress. When the buildout started to falter, Zaitz doggedly reported on it, reports Nicole Slaughter Graham of The Poynter Institute. "As the Enterprise continued to publish updates about the project, backlash from the county ensued, and records requests either went unanswered or took several weeks or even months to come through." To keep his community informed, the paper and Zaitz sued the county for access to the records, and won.

The project "could have been life-changing for the residents of Malheur County, 14.9% of which live in poverty — more than any other county in Oregon," Graham explains. Years later, the Treasure Valley Reload Center project remains unfinished, but many residents of Malheur County know some of the reasons why -- because their local paper reported on it. "Zaitz committed to publishing updates on the project. It was bleeding money with no real results. . . . Zaitz knew the community stakes were high."

Location of Malheur County in
Oregon (Wikipedia map)

The county tried to paint the Enterprise as being against the project. Zaitz responded by "publishing pieces that drew back the curtains on the journalistic process, letting readers know how the reporting was going, what documents had been acquired," Graham adds. Zaitz told her, “I’d explain to people why this fight is occurring, and that this is not the Malheur Enterprise’s information. [Public records] are your information, and this is how you judge what your public officials are doing.”

Many Enterprise readers were grateful for the integrity and information provided by their newspaper. Zaitz told Graham, "I found that people really appreciated someone to sort of stop and explain in plain terms." Graham reports, "In September 2022, the Malheur Enterprise and Zaitz sued (Greg) Smith," who was overseeing the project, "citing that the paper was repeatedly denied access to public records and that [the project's manager] had knowingly tampered with, and even destroyed documents."

Throughout the lawsuit process, the Enterprise continued to report on the Reload Center's progress. "In spring 2023, the county settled the lawsuit and agreed to pay the Enterprise $40,000. The payout was arguably the least substantial aspect of the settlement," Graham writes. "Additionally, the county’s lawyer, in a rare legal move, admitted to the county’s wrongdoing."

There's more to this happy ending for Zaitz's Malheur Enterprise -- it earned The First Amendment Award for 2024 from the Poynter Institute. Graham reports, "Judges pointed out that the Enterprise’s public records reporting was, 'A fantastic example of a small paper doing big work to effect real change in the local community.'"

The Institute for Rural Journalism, which is based at the University of Kentucky, presented Zaitz with the Tom and Pat Gish Award for tenacity, courage and integrity in rural journalism in 2018 during the early stages of his reporting on the project. 

Plenty of stories can be found when local journalists dig into their community's lawn-care practices

Examining community lawn-care habits can yield
rich stories. (Adobe Stock photo)

If you're a local environmental journalist, you need to go no further than examining your community's lawn care for possible stories. "Let’s be real: Green lawns are anything but natural," writes Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "Not only does the perfect green lawn require laborious mowing — and watering, and fertilizer, and weed killers and bug killers. But a lot of those chemicals may run off the lawn and into water bodies where they may do harm."

The more manicured the lawn, the greater the chances of heavy, inorganic treatment. Some residents have little choice but to use chemicals because homeowner associations and zoning laws dictate lawn care. Still, other individuals rebel against their local “lawn police," Davis adds, "That might be a story. Can you keep bees or raise chickens? What does that mean for the turf? . . . Sometimes the streetward side of a yard may be a municipal easement, rather than the owner’s property. This can sometimes spark conflict, too."

For community reporters, if there's land and people around you, there's likely some nature-center story to be found. Some of Davis' reporting resources are shared below. For his full list of ideas, click here.

• National Wildlife Federation: A national membership organization for wildlife conservation. It has local chapters. And it is the one to certify home yard wildlife habitats.
• Xerces Society: A broad group whose membership includes scientists and landscape managers, and is devoted to invertebrate conservation. It has pollinator-friendly plant lists by region.
• Local nurseries: Gardeners visit these local treasures often. Talk to senior staff.
• County extension: All-purpose helpers with expertise. Here is a good directory.
• Ecological Landscape Alliance: A professional organization whose members include landscape architects and others. Its directory is a gold mine.
• Planning and zoning boards: They usually have lots of staff. They can help you find out what’s legal in your area.
• Garden clubs: There is likely one in your neighborhood. Go to a meeting. And bring cookies.

Postponed: Report for America's information session that was scheduled for today will be held at a later date

Report for America has matched more than 650 corps members with hundreds of local newspapers, public radio stations, digital platforms and television outlets. (RFA photo)

The Report for America information session that was scheduled for 3 p.m. today has been postponed. A make-up date and time will be announced soon. 

Here is information about Report for America's program for journalists interested in participating. 

Report for America is a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. The organization is adding 50 positions for next year and is encouraging rural and community news organizations to apply for the opportunity to get additional help for their newsrooms.

The Report for America program is designed to help newsrooms report on under-covered issues and communities. As part of the program, RFA pays half of a journalist’s salary the first year, a third of the salary the second year and 20% the optional third year.

According to Report for America, host newsrooms also will receive:
-- Diverse, talented slate of candidates to choose from
-- Local fundraising coaching and resources to help with the news organization’s share of the costs, including the opportunity for no-cost fiscal sponsorship to accept donations
-- Extra training and mentoring for journalists

“We recognize the difficulties modern newsrooms encounter, from recruiting skilled journalists to offering the necessary mentorship and support,” said Earl Johnson, vice president of recruitment and alumni engagement at Report for America. “Partnering with Report for America enables local newsrooms to address critical news gaps, diversify their staff, and foster sustainable local backing within their communities.”

Report for America has matched more than 650 corps members with hundreds of local newspapers, public radio stations, digital platforms and television outlets since its launch in 2017. Nearly $30 million has been raised by local newsrooms with Report for America’s assistance.

The application deadline is Sept. 13. To learn more, visit www.reportforamerica.org.

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."

A look at how a local newspaper in Pennsylvania covered Trump's rally and the attempted assassination

When Donald Trump went to Butler to deliver his election message to the state's western supporters, journalists from the local newspaper, the Butler Eagle, were prepared to cover a political rally, but they ended up reporting on a shocking attempted assassination.

Covering a national event with a small newspaper's resources is a tall order for any newsgroup, and journalists at The Associated Press wondered how the Eagle would manage the reporting and scrutiny. To discover how it all went down at the Eagle, AP photographer Matt Slocum, media reporter David Bauder and video journalist Joe Frederick traveled to Butler to interview the paper's journalists, managers and staff. AP's perspective looks at a tragic event in a small town through the eyes of the local newspaper working to cover it. 

When AP explored the Eagle's newsroom responses, another story came to light. "It revealed not only the news organization’s professionalism but the emotional toll the story was taking on young staffers," AP reports. "One was moved to tears as she recounted how the crowd turned on her after the shooting. But, she said, the story taught her that in being a journalist, she had made the right choice."

AP's approach "enabled them to interlock strong human stories and look at the American local news industry as a whole. Particularly noteworthy was how this story managed the 'ladder of abstraction' and represented a strong crossover story that could appeal to multiple audiences — those looking for political news, local news, media news and simply a human story about the faces behind the journalism," AP reports. "The story offered a compelling on-the-ground tale that also linked it up with the struggles that newspapers and local news are having."

To dig into this coverage, watch the video here.

Kentucky Hall of Fame journalist retires from UK, leaving a legacy of good journalism for rural folks and beyond

Dr. Jennifer Greer presenting the 2023 Polaris Award to Al Cross.
(Photo by Sydney Turner, UK College of Communications)

By Jenni Glendenning
Institute for Rural Journalism, University of Kentucky

After almost 20 years advocating for rural and community journalism in the College of Communication and Information, Al Cross is leaving the University of Kentucky as the Director Emeritus of the Institute for Rural Journalism (IRJ). Cross, who also served as an extension professor for the School of Journalism and Media, officially retires July 31.

Cross may be handing in his UK office keys, but he won’t be stepping away from journalism altogether. After all, as Cross told a colleague recently, “there is no such thing as a former journalist.”

Cross’ 27-page CV doesn’t do justice to his achievements. He graduated from Western Kentucky University and has covered every Kentucky legislative session since 1980. Right out of college, Cross edited and managed weekly newspapers in Monticello, Russellville and Leitchfield.

He then became a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal for 26 years, including more than 15 years as a political writer (1989-2004). In 1989, he shared a Pulitzer Prize with the Courier-Journal staff, and in 2001-02 he was national president of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2010, he was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.

The Institute was co-founded in 2004 by Cross and Al Smith. Cross worked for Smith in Russellville and Leitchfield, and their relationship made Cross the longest-running panelist on “Comment on Kentucky” before Cross became an election-night analyst for KET.

Patti and Al Cross at the 2023 Al Smith Awards Dinner.
(Photo by Sydney Turner, UK College of Communications)

Al’s wife, Patti Hodges Cross, is from Grayson County and is an independent designer and editor of various publications. In addition to design work, Patti is treasurer and former president of the Franklin County Fair and Horse Show in Frankfort and volunteers for numerous other philanthropic events. Al and Patti have been married for more than 48 years.

Patti Cross said she looks forward to the two of them spending time in the river house they are building in Clinton County. “It will serve as a getaway place on the Cumberland River where we can entertain friends and family,” she said.

Patti Cross said they also plan to travel. “Al has been to 48 states and only needs North Dakota and Hawaii to complete his bucket list," she said.

The couple hopes to visit Germany, the place of some of Cross’ ancestors, with his brother and sister-in-law. She would also like to travel to the Mediterranean or take a European river cruise but said they won't take any major trips until after Cross finishes his book on Kentucky politician Earle Clements.

Cross’ successor at the IRJ, Benjy Hamm, joined the University of Kentucky in 2023.

“I could not think of a better successor than Benjy Hamm,” Cross said. “His career has given him a deep, broad understanding of rural journalism and its challenges.”

Hamm said that for 20 years, and across the country, Cross has been the institute's name and face.

“When I’m at different events with people, and you say you're with the Institute for Rural Journalism, they’ll say, ‘Oh, is that Al Cross?’ because that’s how he’s become identified."

Throughout Cross’ “significant and outstanding journalism career, he was able to take this institute and make it into something that has helped countless journalists and news organizations across the country,” Hamm said.

“Al has been very gracious to me to make sure that my focus is on the Institute and making it go forward for the future,” Hamm said. “He understands that it will change with subsequent directors, and over the course of years, it will change, and he is wholeheartedly in support of that… He’s not someone who thinks that the Institute should stay the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago.”

Al Cross and Benjy Hamm host a workshop panel at the National Summit
on Journalism in Rural America, July 2023. (Photo by Heather Close, IRJ)

Cross and Hamm have known one another for more than 20 years. Hamm was the editorial director of Landmark Community Newspapers, which had a division in Shelbyville, Ky., where he and Cross interacted quite frequently since Landmark, at the time, owned the most newspapers in the state.

“The institute is integral to the service and outreach missions of our college and UK,” said Jennifer Greer, dean of the College of Communication and Information. “The work that Al Cross and his team do supports local journalists and rural communities throughout the nation at a time when the need for accurate and trusted information is needed more than ever. We are thrilled to have Benjy carry on this important work.”

The Institute's Administrative Coordinator and rural blog writer, Heather Close, called working with Cross a “journey of learning and discovery.”

“I have never read so many things in all my life or looked at so many maps,” Close said. “Al pushed me to look at writing more critically and opened my eyes to resources I never knew existed. I'm grateful for the lessons. I hope he enjoys retirement, but I know we'll be seeing him at this year's Al Smith Awards Dinner.”

Cross leaves a legacy of achievement through the IRJ.

“Our overall aim is to help life in rural America and rural Kentucky,” Cross said. “We operate under the proposition that rural Americans deserve good journalism as much as anybody else in America.”

When Cross received the new Al Smith Polaris Award in 2023, recognizing distinguished service to community journalism, an audience member called him “a kind of North Star for the field of rural editors.”

Although those at UK might not see Cross striding through the halls, all will still see his name in the media as he continues to advocate for newspaper readership and good journalism in Kentucky.

Cross said he is looking forward to writing books and the occasional column.

Cross has dedicated his life to serving his community and reporting, so it was no surprise to anyone who knows him – or knows of him – that even in his retirement, he won’t stop doing what he loves.

Jenni Glendenning

Author’s personal note: I had the pleasure of serving as the David Hawpe fellow for the Institute during 2024, Cross’ last summer at the University of Kentucky. The knowledge and information I gained from this man in three short months were invaluable to my academic career and personal development. Al and Patti are true exemplars of everything Kentuckians strive to be: Kind, caring, compassionate, and brilliant. I will undoubtedly miss my daily communication with Cross. I cannot wait to read his books! All the best to Al and his family. 

 

One lawsuit over the Marion County newspaper raid settled for $235,000, but more claims are pending

Marion County Record raid, Gruver's desk at bottom right
(Screen capture of surveillance video via Kansas Reflector)

It has been almost a year since the Marion County Record was raided by police supposedly investigating charges of identity theft and illegal use of a computer by the Kansas weekly newspaper. In the process of confiscating newsroom property, the city's chief of police, Gideon Cody, injured Record reporter Deb Gruver's hand while "forcibly obtaining her personal cellphone," reports Emmett Lindner of The New York Times. "Gruver has reached a $235,000 settlement as part of a lawsuit she filed over the search, which set off a national discussion about press freedoms."

Gruver, who resigned from the paper after the raid, "said in a letter to the editor that she 'no longer wanted to work in a town where the majority of leaders clearly don’t respect the Fourth Estate or the U.S. Constitution,” The Record reported.

Another lawsuit, filed by the Record's publisher, Eric Meyer, alleges that the raid, which included "seven law enforcement officials spending more than two hours in Meyer’s residence, where his mother was at the time" contributed to her death the next day, Linder reports. Four other Record employees also have suits pending.

While Gruver's settlement ends one chapter of the raid's fallout, the entire investigation and the later reversal of the authorized searches that allowed it are still more broadly worrisome, particularly for smaller newspapers that investigate local authorities. Linder explains, "Less than a week after the raid, Marion County’s top prosecutor, Joel Ensey, ordered officials to return the seized devices because there was insufficient evidence to justify the searches. . . .The raid also came after The Record had questioned Cody about his departure from the Kansas City Police Department, following accusations that he had made sexist and insulting comments."

The raid didn't just have negative outcomes; there was also a silver lining. Meyer told Linder, "One of the things that we’ve seen out of this is that the people who have responded to us have come from across the political spectrum. There aren’t too many things in this world right now that bring Democrats and Republicans together.”

Opinion: Will the public be notified of water problems? EPA and states often let the information be obscured.

John Galer

The following is a column by John Galer, chair of the National Newspaper Association and publisher of The Journal-News in Hillsboro, Illinois.

If you are aware of the Marion County (Kansas) Record, it is probably because you winced at the dings and dents inflicted upon the First Amendment when the local police department conducted a raid on the Record’s offices in 2023. Publisher Eric Meyer stood up to the police with a civil liberties lawsuit, put his paper out in spite of the harassment from law enforcement and reminded audiences all over the country about the importance of community newspapers.

What you might not know is that the Record is at it again — this time exposing the damage to the public’s right to know when water quality public notices are entrusted to self-reporting on government websites.

Ironically, the Record is in the same state whose attorney general recently gave Wichita — the state’s largest city — the ability to eliminate its newspaper notices and instead publish on the city’s website.

How well does this self-reporting work? We need only to look to the EPA’s and state agencies’ reporting requirements for water quality.

EPA used to require a newspaper notice. Then it “modernized” its methodology and set up a three-tied communications system for alerting the public to drinking water problems. The new guidance now doesn’t even mention newspapers. For immediate risks to human health, the only requirement for use of news media is a mention to broadcast media (remember them—they are the ones who no longer have local reporters in a majority of their markets.) Presumably, this notification would be through a press release. Translation: free media. Presumably, the broadcast outlet would be free to ignore it or forget to read their email to pick it up in the first place.

The water agency also can post the notice in “conspicuous locations.” We are remembering a recent public health experience when most people didn’t go outside their homes. We wonder which “conspicuous locations” would have served then. Hand delivery of notices to persons served by the water system is also allowed. We are betting that is a rare occurrence.

How well does this new system work?

Not so well, according to EPA’s inspector general. Agencies responsible for issuing public notices failed to meet requirements about 6,000 times per year on average. As a result, citizens were not notified that the Safe Drinking Water Act passed by Congress in 1974 was not being followed. In short, people might have been drinking polluted water, unaware.

After the debacles in Flint, Michigan, where taxpayers had to foot millions of dollars in damages and legal fees for drinking water problems — per the existence of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water near key military bases in North Carolina and Georgia — a person might think water quality would be higher on enforcing agencies’ agendas.

Back to Marion, Kansas.

The notice used by the city water authorities was a copy of a compliance report included in water bills. But one month, the report didn’t show up. Meyer went on the hunt. He was met with defensiveness and accusations, according to his news story. Finally, he found a mention in one water bill of an internet address for a water quality report. And it turned out a link to the report was on the city website. But, lo, when Meyer followed the link, he got a “Forbidden” notice. He reported a series of deflections by city official: they couldn’t get testing supplies from a vendor, tests were not really required because it had stopped using one disinfectant after its injectors failed. On and on.

To Meyer’s credit, he doesn’t let the ire of city administrations stop him. We hope his readers love his temerity and that his readers find out what they need to know about their local water. Meanwhile, we hope the Kansas attorney general gets a wake-up call.

What’s wrong with this picture?

As with all of the wishful thinking that goes into removing newspaper public notices and requiring the public’s business to be posted on some obscure website, the ability of the public to educate itself gets washed away. If Marion County’s 11,000-some residents had at least been given a shot at real public notice, they might have found the water was bad. Or that it was safe. Either way, they could have found out. But EPA let the water authorities off the public notice hook. And now the state has allowed its attorney general to further the error in Wichita.

The problem is that lack of notice removes, in Marion’s case, some 11,000 private attorneys general who might have chosen to hold their government accountable. But none the wiser, they could not.

What will it take? As in all defenses of liberty, eternal vigilance. We can never give up on the right to know.

Reporting on tornado protocols and resources can help your community be safer should a twister touch down

Tornadoes in Pender, Nebraska, pop. 1,100, on June 16, 2014.
(Photo by Brent Koops/NOAA, Flickr CC via SEJ)

More than 100 tornadoes touched down across the Great Plains and Midwest in April, leaving swaths of wreckage and some fatalities in their wake.

With continued severe weather still possible, journalists can help keep their communities informed on tornado protocols and what to do if a touchdown is imminent. "With preparedness, many fatalities and injuries can be prevented or minimized," reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "Public awareness of how to improve safety can be made better with media coverage." The best time for journalists to ask themselves what they can do to ensure their community is ready should disaster strike is before an emergency. Below are some edited story tips from Davis:

• What is the historical record of tornadoes in your state? What are the most recent trends? Ask researchers at local universities.
• Does your community have Doppler radar coverage? Researchers have found "radar gaps," which leave some communities less protected.
• Ask local meteorologists how they get their tornado information.
• How (and how well) does the emergency notification system work in your area? Who runs it? Who cooperates? What technology platform does it use? Is it effective at warning people? Is there a big siren? How does it work in remote areas?
• Is your community hooked into the federal Emergency Alert System? Does it have "reverse 911"? Do people know how to get alerts on their phones?
• Do people in your community have tornado-safe shelters such as storm cellars? Do people typically have basements?
• Does your community have mobile home parks, nursing homes, schools or daycare facilities? Talk to the managers and residents of these especially vulnerable facilities about whether/how they are prepared to handle tornado emergencies.

Weather reporting tools:

• NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory: Centered in Norman, Oklahoma, this federal agency under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is all about tornadoes.
• National Weather Service: NOAA agency makes basic weather predictions. Most important is the national network of local NWS Forecast Offices (see the directory here).
• NWS Storm Prediction Center: This part of the NWS predicts severe storms, including tornadoes.
• State emergency agencies: Most states have one, although names may vary. Use this directory search to find your area.
  

Standard tornado-preparedness advice: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Weather Service, and the American Red Cross provide many easy-to-use summaries of good advice on safety in tornadoes.

Rural Journalism Collective hosts election-year reporting webinar: Thursday, June 20, 2 p.m., E.T.

The Rural Journalism Collective is hosting a free webinar with tips on how journalists can tell more accurate stories about rural voters. The webinar will be held on Thursday, June 20, at 2 p.m., E.T. You can register here.

Session panelists include Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies; Pauly Denetclaw, political correspondent for ICT; and Cathy Darling Allen, registrar of voters and Shasta County clerk in rural California.

As Americans head into the final months before November elections, rural journalists can help their communities fine-tune their political voices while supporting poll workers and election officials throughout the election cycle.

The discussion will touch on voter polling conducted by the Center for Rural Strategies, Native and Indigenous voters, and how journalists can use their reporting to lead their communities through the democratic process.

Quick hits: Documentary on Uvalde Leader-News shooting coverage to air; adding solar can benefit farms; wildfire prep

Front page of Uvalde Leader-News special
memorial section for Robb Elementary shooting.

A new documentary, Print It Black, that premieres on ABC News Live and Hulu at 8 p.m., E.T. on Friday, May 24, will examine how Uvalde Leader-News journalists covered the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in 2022, reports Kory Grow of Rolling Stone magazine. "A trailer for the film shows the stress and devastation the staff felt in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, beginning with reporter Kimberly Mata-Rubio, who lost her daughter, Alexandria, in the massacre." The trailer also presents the "public cries for justice that followed the massacre, which was made worse by a delay on the part of local authorities to act after the shooting began."

Some farmers are welcoming solar energy as a way to save on their electrical bills and maximize land use. "Jerry Howle was skeptical about installing a $300,000 solar panel system on his South Carolina chicken farm. Then he found out he could get it free of charge," report Amrith Ramkumar and Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "Solar panels now sit on his two chicken houses, powering giant fans that keep as many as 60,000 birds inside cool. The panels are being paid for entirely by subsidies from the new climate law and will virtually eliminate the farm's $10,000 annual utility bill."

Wildfire season can be unpredictable, but planning and reliable tools can make managing it easier. Wirecutter has gathered a "best of wildfire preparedness" to help those who live in wildfire-prone areas be as ready as possible. "This guide to wildfire preparedness builds on the expertise of its original author, Eve O'Neill, who was forced to evacuate her California home in 2017 during the Tubbs Fire, which killed 22 people," reports Ellen Airhart of Wirecutter. "This list was also informed by interviews and research conducted for our larger guides to the best emergency-preparedness supplies and the best gear for your bug-out bag."

Solar storms knocked some farmers offline during peak
planting time. (Photo by Chris Ensminger, Unsplash)

While active solar storms knocked some farmers offline during the thick of planting season, the problem was not as dramatic as some reported. "Many farmers were forced to press pause and wait until GPS satellites came back online. . . . It seems, however, that like most things discussed online [on] social media channels perhaps made the situation seem a bit more dire than it turned out," reports Matthew J. Grassi of Farm Journal. Curt Covington from AgAmerica told Grassi, "There were some scattered reports of these storms delaying planting over the weekend, particularly in the Midwest, but no major disruptions have been reported by farmers at this time."

Many American families are facing some hard health care realities -- there aren't enough in-home care workers and those that do exist are often outside of their financial reach. As a result, many children are forced to care for aging or injured family members, reports Clare Ansberry of The Wall Street Journal. "There are an estimated 5.4 million children under the age of 18 providing care to parents, grandparents or siblings with chronic medical conditions or functional decline, up from about 1.3 million nearly 20 years ago, according to two reports from the National Alliance for Caregiving and others."

U.S. mining company Energy Fuels opened the mines last
year. (Photo by S. Hermann/F. Richter, Pixabay via MT)

To lessen U.S. dependence on Russian uranium and keep global energy promises, "Three uranium mines have gone into production along the Arizona-Utah border, with more on the way elsewhere in the Mountain West, as market conditions for the mineral needed for nuclear energy improve in response to a global push to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels to slow climate change," reports Wyatt Myskow of Inside Climate News. "The biggest problem the mining industry faces — especially with uranium—is opposition from local communities, tribes and environmentalists. The three mines that just started operations endured years of pushback and litigation."

Journalists can help their audience avoid purchasing or renting real estate with environmental problems

House in Bethel, Vermont, severely damaged by Hurricane
Irene. (USFWS from Flickr Creative Commons via SEJ)

Purchasing a home or renting a place with environmental concerns can be financially, physically and emotionally harmful. Journalists can help their readers and listeners avoid these problems by focusing stories on real estate risks. State and local governments require disclosure of some of those risks before a sale, but others, such as flood risks, may fall outside government oversight, reports Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Not all home sellers and agents will disclose dangers or flaws unless compelled to. "Sellers will play up features like schools, shopping, transit, restaurants and so on. Drinking water problems? Not so much," Davis writes. "What some consumer advocates miss is how many environmental risks come with real estate purchases."

Davis provides a list of story ideas to consider as your audience heads into prime real estate sales and moving season. A limited number of his ideas are edited and shared below. For the full list, click here.

Disclosure requirements: Every state has different requirements. Find out yours at SOLD.com, a nationwide real estate business.

Home inspectors: Whatever the legal environment near you, professional home inspectors know about it. Find them in your locality. Some may talk to you.

Lead paint: Federal law requires disclosure of lead paint risks in real estate sales. However, the question of whether the risks have been adequately mitigated can be tricky and subjective.

Flood risk/history: Federal law does not require disclosure, but some 29 states do. Find out if your state is one of them. People anywhere can find out if a property lies in the Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated flood plain.

Lead in water: Lead service lines are common in older houses in many U.S. cities. Remember Flint? Only a few states require disclosure.

What's in the drinking water: Some communities have contaminants in their source water and even in their treated drinking water. This is true of private wells, too. Home sellers are not required to disclose this, but the law does require utilities to disclose what's in their treated water. Ask for your utility's Consumer Confidence Report.

Carbon monoxide: If a building is heated with gas or oil (or, rarely, other combustibles), toxic carbon monoxide may be released into the living space. Tuning or replacing the furnace may be in order. CO detectors are rarely required but are inexpensive and available.

Dam safety: Most dams are safe. But if a building is downstream of a large or old dam, check on the risks. Start with the National Inventory of Dams. If a nearby dam is rated "high" or "medium" hazard, there may be issues. What you really want is the inundation map for the dam (if it is accurate and available).

Reimagine Rural podcast just launched its second season; Tony Pipa's latest travels look at rural economics

The Reimagine Rural podcast just launched its second season, which features a deeper exploration of the economic opportunities available to rural towns and how local people are coming together and participating in the process. Once again, Tony Pipa of the Brookings Institute plays host as he travels throughout the United States, visiting rural communities and uncovering what challenges and innovative strategies are taking shape.

This season highlights how rural development often includes engagement with outside interests and investment. In some areas, Pipa explores the new place-based federal resources available through recent legislation, which shows readers how some public policies and rural places combine.

In the first episode, he visits Humboldt, Kansas, and New Berlin, N.Y., to discuss what could be described as a rural version of corporate social responsibility. In the second, he stops in Humboldt County, Calif., to explore the importance of doing things differently if a major offshore wind installation is to fulfill its promise of prosperity for local tribes and residents.

Future episodes will be released throughout the summer. Each one will delve into a specific issue, such as affordable housing, broadband connectivity, and the resurgence in advanced manufacturing. 

Reimagine Rural can be found on any favorite podcast platform, or find the podcasts here (with full transcripts).

Listeners also may be interested in the podcast Funding Rural, hosted by Erin Borla. This podcast discusses how philanthropy can better serve rural communities.