National Trust for Local News is taking nonprofit newspaper journalism rural; more acquisitions are in the works

This is the author's latest Sustaining Rural Journalism column for Publishers' Auxiliary, the monthly newspaper of the National Newspaper Association.

By Al Cross
Director emeritus, Institute for Rural Journalism, University of Kentucky

Nonprofit newspaper journalism, until now largely a feature of urban areas, is going rural – especially if the National Trust for Local News keeps up what it’s doing and plans to do.

“By December, we will be the fifth largest independent newspaper operator in the country,” among those that are not publicly traded or owned by hedge funds, the trust’s chief portfolio officer, Ross McDuffie, told the New England Newspaper and Press Association conference Oct. 19.

The trust recently bought 22 newspapers in Maine, most of them rural weeklies, and two years ago bought 24 papers along Colorado’s Front Range. McDuffie said in an interview that the trust plans to announce acquisitions in Georgia next month. The Knight Foundation recently gave the trust $5 million to create a newsroom in Macon, where McDuffie was publisher of the Macon Telegraph.

The trust says it is exploring opportunities in Kentucky, Montana and New Mexico, and wants to create 10 independent, state-level conservancies serving 475 counties and 20 million people in the next five years, with a goal of having one in every state. It says its fundamental purpose is to “keep local news in local hands.”

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Ross McDuffie

At the National Summit on Journalism in Rural America in July, McDuffie said state-level nonprofits are “the most sustainable path forward for rural newsrooms.”

He told NENPA’s online meeting, “Our vision is to build and operate a federation of nonprofit subsidiaries that can sustain high-quality community journalism in small communities across the nation,” and to see that “established trusted news organizations thrive and remain grounded in the communities they serve.”

The trust gets its money to buy newspapers from donors, ranging from local individuals to major foundations. Those listed on its website include George Soros’ Open Society Foundations; in August the publication Semafor reported that OSF and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, who is not listed on the trust’s website, “played a central role” in the Maine purchase. The trust denied that OSF committed money for the purchase, and OSF said its grants to the trust “have not included money for specific projects.”

The trust wouldn’t comment on Wyss (who earlier tried to buy Tribune Co.) and said it would tell more about the funders when its Maine advisory board was constituted in September. Asked Oct. 24 when that was going to happen, McDuffie said the board will make that decision and its membership still hasn’t been finalized, but “There is a real desire to have that constituted by the end of the year.”

The trust is still raising startup money in Maine. McDuffie told NENPA that the trust has raised $18.1 million for a two-year, $22 million “transformation” plan that includes unifying three operating businesses and expanding commercial printing, because “We believe in print and its longevity and its ability to serve an audience.”

He said the trust wants to “rejuvenate” its community newspapers, most of which are weeklies; “significantly boost” household penetration; and raise funds from “a very large and curious audience” in Maine. But one of his PowerPoint slides said the goal is to operate “as a sustainable news enterprise that does not require ongoing general support from philanthropy.”

As with for-profit enterprises, bigger is better, McDuffie said: “As we scale rapidly, we are uncovering more opportunities to leverage efficiencies of scale . . . that were only previously available to large media conglomerates or corporations,” such as buying power for paper, employee benefits, digital transformation and attracting talent.

He said the trust has raised $30 million across geographical, ideological, generational and programmatic lines that usually separate philanthropies, and “Funders are having a consistent and palpable reaction to our narrative within the first few minutes of hearing our story.”

Much of the philanthropy for local journalism has gone to startups, mostly online, but they are almost entirely based in urban areas, and McDuffie and others believe philanthropists need to look at funding the purchase of legacy newspapers to prevent the creation of news deserts in rural areas.

“With sufficient capital and expertise, conserving and transforming existing news sources IS an efficient way to strengthen democracy and support that civic and social fabric of small towns and rural communities,” he told NENPA, emphasizing the verb.

“These communities need reinvestment in the newsgathering teams that have spent decades of building trust and credibility,” he continued. “The creation of these state-level conservancies amalgamate legacy ownership into one operating model and unlock efficiencies of scale while keeping quality local news as the North Star of decision-making, as opposed to what’s happening at other larger, conglomerate, corporate media, where profits or shareholder value are typically the nexus of decision-making. It’s a difference of motivation.”

He said the need is greatest in the Southeast, where the trust estimates that 23 million people are at risk of losing their only local news provider. That’s more than half its estimate of 45 million in 1,424 counties – 45 percent of the nation’s counties. The estimates are based on counties with median household income below the national average.

The trust figures that in every state in the Southeast (including both Virginias), more than half of counties are at risk of becoming permanent news deserts. It estimates that is also the case in Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Nevada.

To the NENPA attendees, McDuffie rattled off the impact of news deserts, as established by research: higher taxes and borrowing costs, more government employees, decreased visibility of government decision-making, and more corruption and misuse of public funds.

And there’s a more fundamental threat. “There’s no democracy that can function without a shared understanding of what’s true and what’s not,” McDuffie said, in one of the pithier versions of that warning I have heard.

In an era of misinformation, including disinformation by political interests who want to control narratives to serve their own interests, news consumers will be skeptical of out-of-state outfits that use billionaires’ money to buy their local newspapers. So the trust will need a broad range of in-state funders, and boards that will help insulate the funders from the newsrooms.

McDuffie says its news outlets follow the transparency guidelines of the Institute for Nonprofit News, requiring website publication of donors of $5,000 or more, and the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. He said funders know the trust’s editorial-independence and non-interference polices, and “Our local newsroom staff are the only people who will decide what stories to pursue, the timing of those stories, and their content.”

In a distrustful information environment, the trust’s newsrooms may have to prove that every day. But if they do, the nonprofit option is a promising long-term path for sustaining rural journalism.

Al Cross edited and managed rural newspapers before covering politics for the Louisville Courier Journal and serving as president of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma State University collaborate to increase number of Indigenous physicians

Charlee Dawson, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is an OSU at
Cherokee Nation medical student. (Photo by Arielle Zionts, KFF Health)

Native American health care has been marked by glaring disparities in access and affordability for tribes when compared to other U.S. populations. In one dramatic solution, the Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma State University worked together to build the only physician training program on a Native American reservation and affiliated with a tribal government: Oklahoma State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine, reports Arielle Zionts of KFF Health News. Its first class will graduate in May 2024.

Located in Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, the program "aims to increase the number of Cherokee and other Indigenous physicians. It's also focused on expanding the number of doctors from all backgrounds who serve rural or tribal communities," Zionts reports. "Natasha Bray, an osteopathic physician and dean of the program, said most medical schools teach about barriers that can make it difficult for rural or Indigenous patients to get care and improve their health. But she said students in Tahlequah get to see these barriers firsthand by studying on the Cherokee Reservation and doing rotations in tiny communities and within facilities run by the federal Indian Health Service."

Overall, rural America doesn't have enough doctors now and not enough medical students seeking to enter rural medicine for future needs. For Native Americans, recruitment and retention numbers are abysmal. Zionts adds, "Rural residents make up about 14% of the U.S. population but fewer than 5% of incoming medical students, according to a study of 2017 data. Native Americans are 3% of the population but represented only 0.2% of those accepted to medical school for the 2018-19 school year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges."

In a refreshing contrast, the new medical school has been successful at recruiting rural and Native American students. "Half the 2020 medical students in Tahlequah are from rural areas, and nearly a quarter are Native American," Zionts reports. "Most of the Indigenous students are from Oklahoma tribes. Others come from tribes outside the state, including from Alaska and New Mexico. . . . Students said studying at the Tahlequah campus prepares them to work in tribal and rural areas in ways that might not be possible at other medical schools."

Zionts reports, "Native Americans have long received inadequate, discriminatory, and unethical health care. The Indian Health Service sterilized thousands of women in the 1960s and '70s. Today, the agency remains chronically underfunded. . . . This [history] has led some Indigenous people to mistrust the health care system. But several of the Tahlequah students said they've bonded with patients who share similar backgrounds."

Medical student Caitlin Cosby, a member of the Choctaw Nation, told Zionts, "It really comforts patients to know that someone like them is taking care of them." Zionts adds, "Cosby, 24, said she once had a patient who asked, 'Are you Native?' And I said, 'I am!'. . . The patient told Cosby he was proud of her."

Seeking more affordable housing, some rural families live with 'water scarcity' -- even hauling water to their homes

Pagosa Springs, Colorado; Aspen Springs
is 10 miles west. (Wikipedia map, adapted)

Even as U.S. water supplies are decreasing, demand is increasing, and for residents in more arid regions that means working to solve problems in places where housing and land prices are cheaper, but water is scarce. "Some of the most affordable land and housing in Archuleta County can be found in Aspen Springs, Colorado," reports Christi Bode of Rocky Mountain Community Radio. "By definition, Aspen Springs is considered one of the largest subdivisions in the United States. It is also one of the most rural. There is no central water system in this nine-square-mile area, located 10 miles west of downtown Pagosa Springs. . . . Functional roads, utilities, running water, and sewer services were never considered in the original development plans."

Aspen Springs was developed in the 1970s, but 50 years later, the area "still lacks the infrastructure to provide domestic water utilities," Bode explains. "To make living here feasible, a few households have sunk wells to tap into groundwater despite poor water quality and costly drilling fees. While it's hard to pinpoint the number of lots occupied due to the sparse, unregulated nature of the community, it is presumed most households haul water and manually fill a cistern. These large containers hold thousands of gallons of water and are typically stored underground and then pumped through the home's plumbing system."

Many Aspen Springs' families fetch their own water.
(Photo by Christi Bode, KSUT)

Bode reports on one family, Jordan and Kalie Caler, who purchased a home in Aspen Springs, knowing they would have to fetch their water. Kalie told her: "At first, we didn't have a truck to haul water, so that was one thing we definitely had to change quickly when we first moved here. We are pretty fortunate for how close we are to the water-filling stations. Some families do it every day just to stay on top of it so that they don't ever have to worry about running out, especially if you have a bigger family. For us, being a smaller family, we can get by just fine hauling it every week and a half, two weeks."

The water filling stations, as well as all the residential hook-ups in Archuleta County, rely "solely on surface water, or annual precipitation, in the form of snow from the Upper San Juan watershed," Bote adds. Their reliance on the watershed leaves water resources limited. "Growing population demands and a finite water supply, paired with aging infrastructure and new regulations, make it challenging to maintain the water system."

For now, the Calers always keep water conservation in mind. Kalie told Bode: "It just sits in the back of your mind, no matter what you're doing. It affects how you think about your surroundings around the house. We may never get a big lush garden here because of our land, but it definitely makes you think about the seasons, how the water's being used, and where it's going."

New speaker has worn his evangelical beliefs on his sleeve, but tries to assure moderates that they are part of his team

Rep. Mike Johnson at an American Legion event in his district
in 2021. (Photo by Henrietta Wildsmith, Shreveport Times)

New House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents a 41-percent rural district in northwest Louisiana, "is known for placing his evangelical Christianity at the center of his political life and policy positions" and "has expressed skepticism about some definitions of the separation of church and state, placing himself in a newer cohort of conservative Christianity that aligns more closely with former President Donald J. Trump and that some describe as Christian nationalism," write Annie Karni, Ruth Graham and Steve Eder of The New York Times. "Now, as the most powerful Republican in Washington, he is in a position to inject it squarely into the national political discourse, where he has argued for years that it belongs."

But Johnson might not have been elected speaker without assurances he gave to Republican moderates from closely divided districts, suggest Marianna Sotomayor, Jacqueline Alemany, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer of The Washington Post. They report that Rep. Marcus J. Molinaro of New York, a freshman from a swing district, "spoke with Johnson about his track record of remarks, op-eds and bills criticizing the LGBTQ+ community," and "Johnson reassured Molinaro that he would no longer represent just his conservative Louisiana district, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Instead, Johnson continued, he would represent the entire Republican conference and protect vulnerable swing-district incumbents like Molinaro. Molinaro went on to support Johnson on the House floor, and was chosen to escort Johnson into the chamber once he was elected, which vulnerable Republicans considered a sign that the ultra-conservative new speaker viewed them as part of the team."

Johnson's election may have also been a result of political practicality and expedience. Looking at the Nov. 17 deadline when government funding runs out, Republican moderates "made the calculation that a government shutdown would be worse for their reelections than a conservative speaker, especially in an election year when Trump is likely to be on the top of the Republican ticket and Democrats’ main focus — not Johnson," the Post reports. "The speed of Johnson’s election, which prevented spending much time poring over his record, have left some Republicans alarmed at what reporters and researchers have already unearthed."

But moderates and other "governing-focused Republicans" say Johnson's relative anyonymity is a good thing. One told the Post, “It’s a great opportunity. Think about it. He’s a blank canvas to everyone else. He has the capacity to now build up his reputation and I think he’s suited to kind of build it by holding us together, not forcing us into things we don’t want to do.” Such members "consider Johnson more malleable than McCarthy," the Post reports. "Johnson — who told Republicans he met with that he has an 'open heart, open mind' — knows he must decide how to spend his political currency and whether to use it to fulfill promises he’s made to lawmakers."

"Moderate House Republicans say they have no qualms about his voting record.," Ken Tran reports for USA Today. "They say Republicans still control the House with just a four-seat majority, which means each member can leverage an outsized amount of power with their vote. Just as ultraconservatives wielded power during Speaker Kevin McCarthy's era, moderates can use their votes as loud voices."

Rural Nebraskans look to the state for help with ailing emergency services

Rural Nebraskans often wait 25 minutes for an
ambulance. (Photo by Jonnica Hill, Unsplash)

Rural ambulance services have been short on volunteers for years, but in states like Nebraska, the situation has become so extreme with slowed response times and long drives to get medical care, residents are asking their state government to help, reports Adam Sanderford of the Nebraska Examiner. "Rural Nebraskans who wait longer than their urban peers for ambulances to arrive and then deliver a patient to a hospital told state lawmakers that many of their local emergency medical service providers need state help to stay afloat. . . . The interim study hearing sought by State Sen. Myron Dorn drew testimony from first responders and hospital groups. Many shared steps Nebraska could take to help smaller communities recruit, train and retain more emergency medical responders."

Volunteer fire and rescue squads are common in Nebraskan communities, but "many struggle to replace older helpers. Additionally, as the rural population ages, calls for service are up, adding pressure to the volunteers who remain," Sanderford writes. "Dorn said this means farmers and rural employees leave their jobs more often, making it harder to persuade a generation of young people to help. It's also harder to recruit volunteers from among younger adults who have children at home, busy with activities."

Nebraska is one of three states with the highest rates of rural residents living more than a 25-minute drive from where an ambulance is stationed, according to a national study by the Maine Rural Health Research Center. "More than 76% of the state's counties had some residents living at least that far from a station," Sanderford writes. "Dwyer told State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair that no state has all the answers for providing rural EMS service. However, he said, many states spend more on addressing the issues than Nebraska. . . . In 2022, South Dakota earmarked up to $20 million for emergency medical services. This money appears poised to boost rural EMS service, from EMT training to helping smaller communities replace old equipment and access telemedicine."

At the hearing, rural first responders "called on the state to pay upfront for training new potential emergency medical responders and medical technicians instead of making them or their volunteer departments seek reimbursement," Sanderford reports. "Angela Ling of the Nebraska Hospital Association stressed the importance of the state seriously discussing the impact on rural rescue squads of inadequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements that leave EMS agencies fighting to make up the differences."

"One testifier, Wahoo EMS director Grant Anderson, called on the state to address in state law which levels of government should shoulder what costs of emergency medical services," Saderford writes. "Wahoo, pop. 4, 800, and Ashland, pop. 3,100, provide EMS services beyond the city limits, but only city taxpayers pay the costs beyond what fees cover. . . . Nebraska state law requires EMS service as an essential service, but it does not specify which level of government should fund the service." Commenting on the state's plans, Ling told Sanderford: “I do not have the solution but hope this is the beginning of a conversation.”

From shimmying up and down poles to deft rescues without 'gigs,' the International Lineman's Rodeo has it all

Spectators in Kansas watch the action.
(Photo by Elise Kirk, The Wall Street Journal)

These folks aren't your horse and pony cowboys -- they're "electric cowboys" who scramble up poles in search of glory at the International Lineman's Rodeo, "the Super Bowl of the electric-utility profession," reports Erin Ailworth of The Wall Street Journal. The Kansas event "drew hundreds to test their chops at timed events such as climbing a 40-foot wooden pole and rescuing a 6-foot-1-inch, 165-pound mannequin named Rodeo Joe."

Amid natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes, a lineworker's job is defined by responding with skill and speed to restore power in times of extreme stress. The competition gives utility workers and their families a place to celebrate the profession and let off some steam. Ailworth writes, "Relatives flock to watch since rodeos are often the only time to see their loved ones practicing a job that can demand long hours in disaster conditions." Brock Baker, who works for Xcel Energy in Amarillo, Texas, told her, "My family doesn't get to see it, but now I have the opportunity to do it and showcase my abilities. I mean, that's pretty cool to me."

Baker was among 1,316 journeymen and apprentice lineworkers "who'd come to pursue glory at the International Lineman's Rodeo. They made up 732 teams from the U.S., Canada and Brazil, many of whom had qualified at smaller rodeos," Ailworth reports. 

One event requires lineworkers to carry "an egg in a bag during a timed pole-climb, then descend with the delicate cargo in their mouths to demonstrate they are smooth and in control," Ailworth explains. Dennis Kerr, co-chairman of the rodeo's board, told her: "The egg is inspected by a judge at the end. If there's a tooth mark in it, it's a two-point deduction, and if there's a crack in it, that's a 10-point deduction."

There are timed team events that "teams learn about just before the competition," Ailworth writes. "This year's surprises: For Mystery Event #1, they would need to change out the crossarm at the top of the utility pole, and for Mystery Event #2, replace the jumpers on the pole that had been de-energized and short-circuited to protect the lineworkers. . . . Around them, wide-eyed children goggled at all the hard-hat-wearing competitors." Steve Harmon, chief executive of Community Electric Cooperative in Virginia, told Ailworth, "In the eyes of children, these participants are somewhat heroic."

Double, double toil and trouble; haunting Kentucky tales and tourist dollars bubble

Part of Kentucky's After Dark campaign highlights rural areas with
chilling legends and haunts to share. (KY After Dark photo via DY)

If you're hankering for good scare, look no more; Kentucky is investing in dark tourism that'll deliver chills and thrills. "Thought to be the first of its kind in the country, the Kentucky After Dark campaign provides visitors with passports and encourages them to visit the small towns and big cities in Kentucky that are home to tales of the supernatural and unexplained," reports Liz Carey of The Daily Yonder. "Tourism directors hope that the campaign will not just bring people to cities like Louisville and Richmond but to smaller towns like Cadiz, Kelly, and Simpson."

Robbie Morgan, director of the Lawrenceburg/Anderson County Tourism Commission, told Carey, "Rural communities don't have the money to advertise like larger cities do. This is one-in-a-lifetime money. . . . We're really small. We're hoping that [Kentucky After Dark visitors] would come early enough to maybe dine with us and that they may even spend the night with us. Any of those dollars that are left here in our community is something that has a positive impact."

"Promoting scary events during Halloween makes sense – and cents," Carey reports. "According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent a record $10.6 billion on Halloween last year. A 2022 study of 937 tourists by Passport-Photo Online found that 82% of tourists have been to a dark tourist site in their lifetime, and of the 18% that haven't, nearly two-thirds (63%) said they had a dark site they wished to visit."

Chilling rumors of unexplainable or paranormal happenings often live on "in small towns that dot the landscape across the country," Carey reports. "In Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, the community sees an influx of tourists during the fall who come to the Anderson Hotel – a haunted hotel in the middle of town, Morgan said. In the spring, visitors come for the Wildman Festival – celebrating the area's many bigfoot sightings."

Dark tourism has worked in other areas of the country. For instance, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, "the Mothman Festival and the legend of Mothman draw in nearly 50,000 tourists a year to the town of just over 4,000 people," Carey writes. "Officials with the West Virginia Tourism Department said the Mothman legend and other paranormal sites, like the TransAllegheny Lunatic Asylum, the Moundsville Penitentiary, and the Flatwoods Monster Museum, draw in tourists all year round."

The campaign, Morgan said, "will help more than just the 12 communities the passport leads visitors to," Carey adds. "In Lawrenceburg, it's not uncommon for visitors to the city's haunted hotel to book hotel rooms months in advance, Morgan said. And when those rooms fill up, neighboring rural counties benefit."

Clocks swing back an hour this Sunday. A plan to counter daylight saving time's aftereffects can help.

Exercising later in the day can sometimes help with the
post-DST slumps. (Illustration by Dana Davis, Wirecutter)

This Sunday includes a glorious hour of extra sleep as daylight saving time winds to an end on Nov. 5 at 2 a.m. However, that single hour comes with a cost. When the sun sets by 4 p.m. in some places, many of us start feeling droopy and consider using toothpicks to prop our eyelids open. "Falling back feels unnatural because we're returning from an unnatural state," reports Caira Blackwell of Wirecutter. "You may be gaining an hour of sleep, but it's only because you moved the clocks forward artificially in the first place. Without DST, you would experience a gradual shift of lost daylight as autumn progresses into winter, the sun setting a little later each day."

While DST has been blamed for "increases in car accidents, heart attacks, and even overall mortality," Blackwell writes, "Unless laws change and golf club manufacturers, gas companies, and the leisure industry stop lobbying in support of DST, people will continue to face these jarring transitions twice a year. . . .Thankfully, studies have shown that the human circadian rhythm, a 24-hour cycle that's governed by your body's internal clock, adjusts more easily to the fall transition than the one in the spring." Here are five tips to help ease the shift.

Stay up later. "According to Chris Winter, MD, author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep Is Broken and How to Fix It, the transition in the fall is like 'a trip west to Vegas, rather than the more painful return to the east,'" Blackwell explains. "If you don't want to fall asleep an hour earlier post-DST, staying up a bit later a day or two before the time shift can help. If that's difficult, he recommends exercise later in the day to help rejuvenate you; studies show that working out between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. delays the body clock."

Take advantage of the sun. Joseph Takahashi, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said "that the best fall-back advice he can give for the chronically sleepy is to get as much light exposure as possible to help push through the darkness," Blackwell adds. 

Stick to regular meal times and other routines. "As the days get darker faster, you might feel hungrier earlier," Blackwell writes. "It's important to fight the urge to eat your last meal of the day super early, which may make you get sleepy sooner than you'd like or cause you to snack later, which can inhibit sleep."

Block early morning sunlight. "If the earlier sunrise post-DST causes you to wake up before you want to, now might be a good time to invest in blackout curtains or shades," Blackwell reports. "Consider smart shades, which can raise or lower on a schedule. Even a sleep mask can help."

If all else fails, embrace hibernation. "Fighting sleepiness, exercising on a consistent schedule, eating at the same time every night, and getting the right amount of sun is a lot to fit into a day that feels done before it begins," Blackwell adds. "Whether you like it or not, winter is coming. If all else fails. . . give yourself permission to take back some of what you've missed over the past year — and to fall back to yourself."

Rural journalists 'knit communities together', have answers for problems in journalism, says USA Today's Susan Page

Susan Page listens to a question as moderator Benjy Hamm, director
of the Institute for Rural Journalism, listens. (Photo by Patti Cross)

"Rural journalism has some of the answers for all sorts of journalism, lessons on covering the news, and earning trust from our readers and viewers," Susan Page of USA Today told 175 people gathered Thursday night for the annual Al Smith Awards Dinner in Lexington, Ky.

"Local news is more trusted than national news," Page noted, citing the latest Gallup poll that found only 7 percent of Americans "have a great deal of trust in what we report and write? . . . Why? You are connected to your communities. You cover the news that matters most to your readers. If you get something wrong, you’re going to hear about it from your next-door neighbor. That really increases the pressure to get things right, and to correct them when you don’t. Those are qualities that every news organization ought to aspire to as well. That’s the lesson of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues."

The institute, which publishes The Rural Blog, holds the dinner with the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists to present student scholarships and the Al Smith Award for public service through community journalism by Kentuckians, named for the late publisher who co-founded the institute at the University of Kentucky.

"I’m honored to share the stage with the scholarship winners and with Ben Gish and Sam Adams of The Mountain Eagle" in Whitesburg, Ky., said Page, USA Today's Washington Bureau chief. "Congratulations for your coverage, so crucial to your community, of last year’s historic flood in southeastern Kentucky, which cost 45 people their lives."

The dinner also heard video remarks from Craig Garnett, editor-publisher of the Uvalde Leader-News in Texas, winner of the 2023 Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism. He couldn't attend but will receive the award at an event in Texas this winter. Page praised him for "holding to account officials in the aftermath of that terrible school shooting -- well, it takes your breath away. He stood up for those 19 kids and two teachers" who died in May 2022.

Page cited other recent examples of courage in rural journalism: "This summer in Marion, Kansas, my home state, the police chief was so worried about a story that the Marion County Record was working on -- a story about him -- that he got a subpoena and raided their offices. They seized computers and phones in what was a violation of federal law, not to mention the First Amendment. In the aftermath, the police chief has been suspended, and the Marion County Record has gotten its equipment back. And this spring in Idabel, Oklahoma, the McCurtain Gazette-News recorded top county officials discussing wanting to kill one of the newspaper’s reporters while remembering fondly the days when a sheriff could, quote, take a 'black guy, throw him in a cell and beat him.' The sheriff was suspended; the jail administrator was put on leave; one of the county commissioners resigned, and the state attorney general opened an investigation.

"This is what journalists do. This is what journalism does. We also do more. We help readers understand how to file for federal disaster aid after their town is flooded. We track high-school sports. (Does anything attract more readers?) We warn readers when a local bridge has been condemned. We tell them where to go to get the best pizza in town. We knit communities together."

Rural hospitals face tough choices, and no option is 'a slam dunk'

Only 15 out of 600 hospitals have converted to the Rural
Emergency designation. (Photo by Adhy Savala, Unsplash)

With many rural hospitals facing financial crises, some have opted to end inpatient stays and convert to emergency services care. In another case, a hospital has gotten creative -- turning to crowdfunding -- to keep its doors open.

In January, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services offered a new payment model where federal payments to qualified hospitals would increase if centers gave up inpatient care. As of October, "Just 15 facilities have taken the federal government up on its offer, reports McKenzie Beard of The Washington Post. "That's a fraction of the more than 600 rural hospitals that the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform estimates are at risk of closing in the near future."

The Rural Emergency Hospital designation seeks to stem hospital closures by offering different payment incentives; however, "for a rural hospital to switch to the new payment model, its state legislature must first pass legislation regulating the program," Beard writes. "Of the 15 hospitals that converted this year, all but two are located in the South. Texas and Mississippi lead the pack with five and two rural hospital conversions, respectively. At the same time, Sturgis Hospital in Michigan and South Central Kansas Medical Center in Kansas are the only facilities in the Midwest to make the switch."

Hospitals that opted to convert are already seeking legislative program changes, and the switch is not a "a slam dunk," Beard reports. Carrie Cochran-McClain, chief policy officer at the National Rural Health Association, told Beard, "It's definitely not the panacea."

Clinton County, pop. 38,000
(Wikipedia map)

Hospitals can face unexpected financial setbacks and lack additional funds to buffer losses. Bucktail Medical Center, in western Clinton County, Pennsylvania, is one of those hospitals. "First, one of its employee retention credit applications, worth up to $400,000, was delayed. That filing became mired in a bureaucratic chain of events that meant a delay of up to 14 months," reports Liz Carey of The Daily Yonder. "Next, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services sent a notice that it had overpaid the hospital in 2018, and they needed to pay back $255,000."

In total, the hospital faces a $1.5 million shortfall. "Without some short-term funding, Tim Reeves, the hospital's administrator, said, the hospital may be forced to close," Carey writes. "The idea to put a fundraising call out on GoFundMe came from one of the hospital's board members, he said. So far, the campaign has raised just over $15,500. . . . Still, the hospital is working with its state legislators and Congressmembers to get some help."

"At 85 employees, it is the largest employer in western Clinton County. The impact of the hospital closing would be devastating for the county, Reeves said. As he works on a short-term solution, there are long-term decisions America has to make about healthcare in rural areas, he said." Reeves told Carey: "I think as a society we need to make a choice – do all Americans deserve the same level of health care? Are we okay with the disparity where you may receive a lesser quality of health care because of where you decide to live?"

Biden administration unfurls a 16-state rural tour beginning this week; events scheduled at several key election states

Photo by Meadow Marie, Unsplash

The Biden Administration is about to barnstorm rural America with visits to yonder places beginning this week, reports Garrett Downs of Politico. "With just over a year until the 2024 election, the White House announced more than a dozen trips to rural America by Biden, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and a slew of other administration officials."

Dubbed the "Investing in Rural America Event Series," the tour aims to "tout investments in rural areas through climate-smart agriculture, rural infrastructure, and a pro-competition agenda, among other priorities," Downs writes. It's also a preemptive effort to keep rural Americans focused on growing rural initiatives even as House Republicans seek "agriculture clawbacks in the farm bill" to balance the Inflation Reduction Act's $20 billion price tag. "The administration is hoping its sizable investments in new revenue streams for farmers. . . will pay dividends with skeptical rural voters and farmers," who have skewed Republican in recent elections.

Biden and Vilsack's first stop will be at a Minnesota family farm to "highlight the Biden-Harris Administration's investments in rural America and efforts to support local farmers and communities," according to a White House fact sheet. Downs adds, "Notably, Minnesota is a key battleground and the home state of Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who announced a primary challenge to Biden last week."

Deputy Ag. Secretary Xochitl Torres Small
(USDA photo)

Stops for Vilsack include a visit with a Future Farmers of America group in Indiana and visits in Wyoming and Colorado to talk on investment and conservation. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Xochitl Torres Small will "travel to battlegrounds Wisconsin and Michigan to 'highlight the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to boost rural economic development and create new opportunities for rural families,'" Downs reports. Torres Small's background as the granddaughter of farm workers who immigrated from Mexico to pick cotton, has helped the administration build rapport with rural voters.

In all, 13 administration officials and Biden will visit 16 states, with states such as Indiana and Wyoming having more than one stop. Tour states include Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona, Iowa, Washington, Oregon, Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Kansas.

After Colorado newspaper announces that it might go out of business, readers respond with $34,000 in donations

A Colorado newspaper struggling to stay in business found that its supporters in the community were willing to donate to the cause once they learned about the dire situation.

Leaders of the Rio Blanco (Colorado) Herald Times, which promotes the fact that it has been “Serving the citizens of Meeker and the White River Valley since 1885,” announced on Oct. 13 that it would have to close after publishing the Oct. 26 issue because the business was running out of money.

Supporters of the publication, however, didn’t want that to happen and have contributed more than $34,000 so far to the newspaper to keep it operating.

Rio Blanco County, pop. 6,500
(Wikipedia photo)

A guest column published in the newspaper and online at theheraldtimes.com described the situation as “an unprecedented emergency that deserves rapid and comprehensive support of every resident of our county and community residents served by this venerable and renowned publication.”

The donations, while substantial, will only help so much. But according to an editor’s note published last week: “Thanks to the generosity of the community, the HT has received enough donations to continue publication for at least another six weeks while we configure a long-term mechanism for sustainability.”

As owner Niki Turner told Corey Hutchins, co-director of Colorado College’s Journalism Institute: “It’s kind of like after someone has a massive accident, ends up on life support, and then the doctor comes out and says ‘Oh, you’re going to live.’”

Hutchins reported: “Part of what led to the advertising crash, Turner said, is two-pronged: Some advertisers have said they are just too busy with clients and work that they don’t need to advertise; other businesses have moved their advertising to Facebook where they can post and share ads on community message board pages for free.”

Turner recommends that other newspaper leaders share more information with the community about their their business struggles, so residents will better understand the situation and can provide support.

Maine gun owner opinion: 'The only people capable of shifting the gun conversation are the people who buy them'

Smith & Wesson rifles civilian versions of the AR-15 for sale
at a gun show. (Photo by Luke Sharrett, The New York Times)

The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives all Americans "the right to keep and bear arms," but the amendment's scope did not envision the AR-15 or a society that would tolerate hundreds of mass shootings. In his opinion for The Atlantic, Mainer and gun owner Tyler Austin Harper writes about why many American love their guns and asks, "How Much Blood Is Your Fun Worth?"

"During my first semester of teaching while in grad school, I made a habit of showing up to my classroom half an hour early. . . . The second week of classes, coffee in hand, I arrived to find an undergrad crouched in front of a half-open window. He was taking a photo with his phone, and when he saw me, he jumped. . . .When I asked if everything was all right, he said he was making sure the windows opened. 'My mom told me to always check to make sure they work, just in case, you know.' . . . . I must have looked confused because he continued: 'In case some gun nut with an AR-15 tries to shoot up the place. When a new semester starts, my mother makes me send her a photo of the open windows in each of my classrooms.' I tried to come up with something to say and found I could not.

"Last night, as I sat on my couch watching CNN anchors discuss a mass shooting that left 18 dead and 13 injured in Lewiston, Maine — the little city where I teach at Bates College and where I lived until recently — I thought about my terrified students who were sheltering in place. About my colleagues who live in town who could have been at the bar or bowling alley where the violence unfolded. . . . I thought about the hospital workers who were in the middle of the worst night of their life, I thought about all the people waiting for news, or getting news.

"As the night wore on and surreality gave way to cold reality, my grief also slowly gave way to guilt. I felt guilty and complicit. . . . I felt guilty because gun nuts are, whether I like it or not, my people: I grew up in gun country. I spent my teenage years working at a Pennsylvania gun club. I’ve been a gun owner nearly my entire life. . . . I am embarrassed to say that this is what it took — a place I love to become somewhere that a uniquely American tragedy has taken place — for me to fully understand our country’s mass-shooting problem.

"I am filled with nothing so much as rage. Rage at my gun-nut friends from home who will see this tragedy as a reason for less gun control, rather than more of it. . . . Rage at the politicians here and beyond who have refused to solve a problem for which solutions readily exist. Rage at myself for being so blind. . . . But it is only now that gun violence has visited my little corner of the world that I have been forced to confront reality, a truth that has been there all along but that I have refused to admit: I own guns because I like them and because I am an American and I’m allowed to and no one stops me.

"The inescapable fact is that the only people capable of shifting the gun conversation in this country are the people who buy them. . . . Yesterday’s events haven’t made me change my mind about being a gun owner. . . . . The shooting in Lewiston changed my mind about being a quiet gun owner. I have spent years of my life making apologies on behalf of my gun-nut acquaintances. Staying silent when friends bring up the National Rifle Association despite my fierce opposition to that organization. Not pushing back when they call minor reforms such as mandatory waiting periods 'totalitarian.' Changing the subject rather than asking 'Why do you need a military-style rifle?'

Read Harper's full essay here.

Uvalde Leader-News publisher honored with Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in community journalism

Uvalde Leader-News Publisher Craig Garnett (OPA photo)

Craig Garnett, publisher of the Uvalde Leader-News in southwest Texas, was recognized Thursday as the winner of the 2023 Tom and Pat Gish Award for extraordinary courage, integrity and tenacity in community journalism.

The award is presented annually by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. Garnett was recognized during an awards dinner hosted by the Institute in Lexington, KY. He was unable to attend in person but provided remarks by video, and he will receive the award at an event in Texas in February.

Garnett owns the twice-weekly newspaper that continues to cover the aftermath of the May 2022 school shooting in which 19 children and two teachers died.

“What happened in Uvalde was crushing,” Garnett said. “It continues to be an enormous weight on many of our shoulders, especially the families of the victims, and we have endeavored to cover every aspect of that shooting.”

Garnett said he was honored to receive an award that’s based on courage, integrity and tenacity. “I don’t know three words that inspire publishers more than those,” he said. “And I can tell you right now that we have courage and we have integrity, and it’s that tenacity that makes the difference between success and failure.”

The award is named for the couple who published The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Kentucky, for more than 50 years. The newspaper was known for its unwavering coverage of corrupt public officials, coal-company abuses, misdeeds of the local police and anti-poverty programs that often missed the mark. As a result, they suffered advertising boycotts, loss of friendships and the even the burning of their newspaper office.

“Tom and Pat Gish set the benchmark for this award,” Garnett said. “I wish I had known them. I think they must have been remarkable people to have created this kind of legacy.”

In nominating Garnett for the award, Managing Editor Meghann Garcia said that he has made a “dogged pursuit to learn how so many things went wrong that day, how every single fail-safe failed.”

Uvalde County (Wikipedia map)

In one of his editorial columns about the shooting, Garnett wrote: “It pains to write these words of criticism about law enforcement, but parents and the community have the right to know. They must be told why police, whom parents at the scene begged to go in and save their children, failed to act. They have to know, to ever begin to heal."

He concluded, "There is a final question that no one will ever adequately answer. It came on Thursday in the form of a text message from our reporter, Kimberly Rubio, whose fourth-grader Lexi did not come home that day: 'Why would someone hurt my baby, Craig?'"

In an editorial, Garnett wrote, “No mass school shooting in the United States has ended with such glaring failures in both the law enforcement response and school district security” and called the police response “a rudderless ship cast into a hurricane.”

Garnett also endorsed more gun control, and that stand and his criticism of police didn’t sit well in the town of 15,000 and the county of 25,000.

In the nomination letter, Garcia wrote, “It wasn't the first time our coverage, or Craig's politics, went against the grain. . . . Craig has never been afraid of taking a stand or telling the news, despite how unpopular it might be with subscribers and advertisers, who are also often his friends.”

Garnett’s wife, Melissa, told the award selection committee, “One of his best columns was about our son’s process of recovery from drugs and alcohol. That took courage. He must have hit all the right notes, as the response was great – he had taken the bold step of using his pain of an addicted child to remove the stigma of talking about addiction.”

In addition to the Gish Award, the Institute for Rural Journalism and the Society of Professional Journalists Bluegrass Chapter also presented Ben Gish, son of Pat and Tom Gish, and Mountain Eagle reporter Sam Adams the Al Smith Award for public service through community journalism by Kentuckians.

The sting of high interest rates is hurting farmers, home buyers, consumers and small businesses

Graph by Karl Russell, NYT, from Federal Reserve data

Painful interest rates are not going away anytime soon, and when borrowing money costs more, business sectors, agriculture and consumers all take a hit. "Home buyers, entrepreneurs and public officials are confronting a new reality: If they want to hold off on big purchases or investments until borrowing is less expensive, it’s probably going to be a long wait," reports Lydia DePillis of The New York Times. The sting of rate hikes may be nearing an end, but "market-based measures of long-term borrowing costs have continued rising . . . Governments are paying more to borrow money for new schools and parks. . . . .Companies, forced to refinance debts at sharply higher interest rates, are more likely to lay off employees — especially if they were already operating with little or no profits."

Because borrowing money costs more, smaller banks have chosen to limit the amount of money they borrow from the Federal Reserve and lend more selectively. DePillis writes, "Small banks are at the epicenter of America’s credit crunch for small businesses." Mary Kay Bates, the chief executive of Bank Midwest in Spirit Lake, Iowa, told DePillis, "It’s a trickle-down effect for everyone. . . . We’re not looking at rates coming down any time soon. I really see us taking a close watch and an internal focus, not so much on innovating and getting into new markets but taking care of the bank we have."

For smaller businesses, the increasing costs of credit may mean downsizing. For entrepreneurs, survival becomes the focus. Even farmers are facing some of the fallout. DePillis reports, "Commodity prices have been dropping, helping to bring down overall inflation, but that has depressed farm income. At the same time, high interest rates have made buying new equipment more expensive."

The problem could eventually spread to affordable housing developments and auto manufacturers. "The real problem may arrive in a couple of years, when a new generation of renters begins searching for properties that never got built because of high borrowing costs," DePillis adds. "Car dealers may feel that shift soon. In recent years, dealers made up for low inventory by raising prices. Carmakers have been offering promotional interest deals, but the average interest rate on new four-year auto loans has climbed to 8.3 percent, the highest level since the early 2000s."

Mass shooting survivors face physicial and mental trauma, but perhaps worst of all, their sense of security is 'shattered'

The plaques are part of a memorial to the seven victims in
Highland Park, Illinois. (Photo by Roger Schneider, AP)

Mass shootings have stripped away much of what Americans always felt were public safety zones. Shooting survivors say the loss, fear and trauma never leave them, reports Claire Savage of The Associated Press. "Since 2016, thousands of Americans have been wounded in mass shootings, and tens of thousands by gun violence, with that number continuing to grow, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Beyond the colossal medical bills and the weight of trauma and grief, mass shooting survivors and family members contend with scores of other changes that upend their lives."

In speaking with individuals and families, Savage explores the aftermath of mass shootings. She writes, "Survivors talked about the mental and physical wounds that endure in the aftermath of shootings in Uvalde; Las Vegas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, during a July Fourth parade last year."

The Zamora family, whose 11-year-old daughter Maya was airlifted out of Uvalde, Texas, after being critically injured in the Robb Elementary school shooting, shared a glimpse of how much the shooting changed their lives forever. Savage reports, "Mayah suffered wounds to her chest, back, both hands, face and ear, and needed so many surgeries her parents said they stopped counting. The family relocated to San Antonio, where Mayah spent 66 days in the hospital and still needs care. A year later, Christina and Mayah's father, Ruben, said they didn't know what bills would be covered by insurance. When Mayah was discharged, they realized one parent needed to stay home to care for her." Mayah's mother, Christina, told Savage: "Her hospital bill is insane. It reaches close to $1,000,000, maybe over." 

Leah Sundheim, 29, was a night manager at a hotel in Las Vegas when "she got 'the worst phone call you can ever receive," Savage writes."Her mother, Jacquelyn Sundheim, had been killed at a shooting during Highland Park's 2022 Fourth of July parade, along with six other people. . . . Mass shootings cause a variety of trauma, she said. Her experience is different from that of her aunt and cousins, who were sitting next to Jacquelyn Sundheim when she died." Sundheim told Savage: "That flight home broke me. . . . [trauma] shatters the sense of security that you have in the world."

From Las Vegas to Highland Park, shooting survivors impart unique losses and a common fear that nowhere is safe. "So far in 2023, nearly 400 people in the U.S. have been wounded in mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive," Savage reports. "And 140 people have died in mass killings this year, which is on track to surpass 2019, the deadliest year on record for mass killings since 2006," according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in a partnership with Northeastern University.

Doggedly investigating and reporting on coal, this reporter and his team are finally getting results

Howard Berkes' investigations have helped change coal
mining. (Photo by Wanda Gayle, Mt. State Spotlight)

Why and when federal officials pay attention to a problem may hinge on one thing -- who reports on it and how they do their job. In Appalachia, Howard Berkes has been covering coal for 38 years, bringing awareness, attention, and government action to miners' health issues. "The coal-producing regions of central Appalachia are at the center of an epidemic of advanced black lung cases among coal miners," reports Mason Adams of Mountain State Spotlight in West Virginia. "New reporting by a retired NPR reporter [Howard Berkes] has shown how federal officials underestimated the sheer number of cases across West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia, and now regulators seem to be responding."

At issue is silica dust produced from coal and quartz mining, causing exposed miners to develop an advanced version of black lung disease known as progressive massive fibrosis. Responding to the increase and severity of black lung cases in Appalachia, Berkes' coal beat has uncovered data and propelled change. "He worked with NPR and the PBS series "Frontline" and spent more than a year investigating fears that federal regulators and mining companies were failing to protect coal miners from toxic dust," May explains. "He and his team obtained documents and data showing federal mine safety officials had evidence of the danger dating back more than 20 years, but never addressed it.

"Lately, the metallurgical coal industry has been ramping up production to meet global demand, and experts predict even more advanced black lung cases will appear. After years of inaction, though, federal officials are addressing the issue," May reports. "Over the summer, the Mine Safety and Health Administration proposed a rule intended to protect coal miners from exposure to silica dust. By the time the comment period closed in September, the draft rule had attracted 157 comments."

Berkes is part of a new investigation into advanced black lung cases co-published by Public Health Watch, Louisville Public Media and Mountain State Spotlight. Click here to read Berkes' Q&A with "Inside Appalachia" host Mason Adams on what that investigation has found.

A rural Indiana county gets creative: Their skilled worker training begins at the courthouse

A student welds during one of Lawrence County’s courses.
(Courtesy photo, Joe Timbrook via The Daily Yonder)

Need skilled workers? It might be time to train them. "Indiana's Lawrence County — an area known for its limestone quarries and being the birthplace of three astronauts — has had to get creative to close the education gaps and labor shortages afflicting much of rural America," reports Nick Fouriezos of The Daily Yonder. "About seven years ago, a local mayor aired out his frustrations to Joe Timbrook, director of career development for the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council. His message, Timbrook recalled recently, was simple: All the area's employers were complaining that they couldn't find any skilled workers."

That 2018 exchange got Timbrook thinking -- where could he find these elusive workers? He started discussing the problem with other Lawrence County leaders "who together realized that the county had about 2,500 adults aged 18 to 65 that didn't have even their high school diploma, much less postsecondary training. Handwritten signs on telephone poles were the only way most people were learning how to get their high school certification," Fouriezos writes. "With the help of an Indiana state grant, the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council came together in 2018 to start addressing its workforce gaps. Perhaps the county's most innovative re-education effort began in its courthouse."

While starting re-education in a courthouse is unusual, the innovative approach paid off. "The council persuaded local judges and prosecutors to include in all plea agreements a 3-week training course for in-demand fields such as machining, welding, and construction. From there, the students can continue pursuing 8-week and 10-week certification courses paid for by the state, Fouriezos reports. "Once the growth council saw the success of the program, it started opening the program to other adults as well." Timbrook told him: "I have judges texting me on the weekends about how the class is doing. . . . We're just trying to figure out what this community needs and fill the gaps."

The lack of skilled workers is a nationwide problem. "Key industries lost scores of workers in recent years and have struggled to get them back. Manufacturing lost 1.4 million jobs at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, and hasn't replaced them, with nearly 700,000 open jobs as of March 2023," Fouriezos explains. "Even if every unemployed person with experience were employed, manufacturers would fill only around 75% of their vacant jobs, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which notes similar deficits in education, health services, and wholesale and retail trade."

Fouriezo reports, "Using local data to assess what already works and expand it is especially critical in areas with few educational institutions, says Dakota Pawlicki, director of "Talent Hubs" at Civic Lab, an education nonprofit that partnered with Lawrence County to systemize their outreach strategy. 'With a lot of national organizations, there is this perception that rural areas are at a deficit,' Pawlicki says, but that perspective can lead to many hidden strengths of rural areas being overlooked. 'In Lawrence County, their unique asset just happened to be something that was happening inside of jail.'"

Many deaths at Wisconsin small dairy farms could be prevented; OSHA could use its authority to dig deeper

Cows, equipment and weather all contribute to dairy
farm dangers. (Photo via ProPublica)

Deaths on small dairy farms in Wisconsin often don't lead to safety inspections, perhaps leaving farm workers unprotected from preventable dangers. In the case of many deaths over the last decade, the Office of Safety and Health Administration never opens a case, citing a lack of authority; however, had the agency probed further, it could have done more," report Maryam Jameel and Melissa Sanchez of ProPublica. "How OSHA interprets and applies its definition of a "temporary labor camp" — and whether it should consider dairy workers temporary when farms produce milk year-round — has significant implications for the safety of thousands of workers in one of America's most dangerous industries."

ProPublica reports on three specific deaths of immigrant dairy workers that may have resulted from a lack of safety or training, but in each case, OSHA inspectors "went to the farms [and] left within an hour — without conducting investigations into the deaths. . . .The inspectors concluded they couldn't investigate because OSHA is banned from enforcing safety laws on farms with fewer than 11 workers unless they have employer-provided housing known as a 'temporary labor camp.'"

A broader look at dairy farm deaths raises more questions. "Since 2009, at least 17 workers, most of them immigrants, have died on Wisconsin dairy farms. Twelve of the deaths happened on farms with fewer than 11 workers. OSHA did not inspect eight of those 12, each time citing the small farms' exemption," Jameel and Sanchez write. "Records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews show that the agency may have more power to open an investigation into these farms than even its own leaders seem to be aware of."

In all three deaths ProPublica examined, how the inspectors so quickly came to their conclusions seems unclear. ProPublica reports, "Had the inspectors taken a slightly closer look, they might have learned that the farmers had readily talked with law enforcement officials about providing housing for their immigrant workers. . . . And if the inspectors had read OSHA's own files, they would have known that the agency has repeatedly, though inconsistently, inspected small farms after concluding a housing arrangement was a temporary labor camp."

Lola Loustaunau, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School for Workers, told ProPublica that 'it would really open the door for a lot of protections for workers' if OSHA consistently inspected small dairy farms that provide housing to immigrant workers."

For more about the history on the small-farm exemption as a budget rider, Christina Cooke of Civil Eats discusses it here.