Storm Lake by Art Cullen

I picked up STORM LAKE by Art Cullen in part because of its subtitle: “a chronicle of change, resilience, and hope from a heartland newspaper,” and I continued reading because Art Cullen is such a terrific storyteller.  After all, he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for Editorial Writing about taking on corporate agribusiness for polluting the state's water and soil.  In STORM LAKE he describes his decision to join his brother in starting a local Iowa paper.  Almost immediately, I was picturing him trying to persuade his wife that this was a good career decision for their family of two young children. I also wanted to continue reading in order to learn more in response to questions like: What is happening “on the ground” in Iowa? How do you make a difference in your community? What impact does local journalism have and how does it relate to the “American Dream,” especially for immigrants trying to assimilate?

I started doing some quick research and found the statistics about the loss of local newspapers to be truly astounding.  Academics, national and international publications have been lamenting the change and noting the potential impacts on polarization, democracy, health care and investigative reporting.   

Here are just a few examples with links to additional studies and data:

Nov. 19, 2018: “Political polarization increases after local newspapers close” (Journalist’s Resource)

June 22, 2018: “Civic engagement declines when local newspapers shut down” (Journalist’s Resource)

June 5, 2018: “Fading local press raises fears for city democracy” (by subscription at Financial Times)

April 11, 2018: “The Crisis in Journalism has become a Crisis of Democracy” (Washington Post)

Plus, the University of North Carolina, in conjunction with The Knight Foundation, has compiled a comprehensive database and report on The Expanding News Desert which looks at newspaper closings since 2004 and who is filling the void.  

Interested? Plan to pick up STORM LAKE which will be on our shelves soon (or read a short excerpt here). This title should have appeal for faculty and students from a variety of areas and disciplines (Journalism and Senior Writing classes, Integrated Global Studies School, US History, American Studies, Civics and Junior Theme). Cullen’s STORM LAKE received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus.

The News Media – What Everyone Needs to Know

I commented just a few months ago on the very helpful series: “What Everyone Needs to Know” from Oxford University Press.  This week, they are releasing The News Media and given the election season that seems very timely, especially due to sections titled “Who pays for the news today?” or “What about ethnic and other non-English language media?” and “How will the relationship between journalism and democracy change in the future?”

The authors are obviously reputable and very accomplished in the field: C.W. Anderson, Associate Professor at the College of Staten Island (CUNY); Leonard Downie, Jr., former executive editor of The Washington Post and currently Professor of Journalism at Arizona State; and Michael Schudson, author and Professor at Columbia University. I have already ordered a copy of The News Media – What Everyone Needs to Know and will certainly share it with our journalism teachers because of the valuable information and many prompts for discussion it contains. 

The authors note that American journalism is in a “state of great turmoil and uncertainty” and discuss how digital technology has “destabilized news organizations that had long produced most of the news and set journalistic standards.” The News Media contains statistics about the changing number of journalists and potential impacts of social media and citizen journalism. Looking at the past present and future, the authors also probe more philosophically, asking, for example, about the role of objectivity in reporting or whether the storytelling function of journalism is just going to disappear. Employing a question and answer format and covering a wide range of issues, this title is a very useful addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know series.