HEART OF STEELE
It’s tough to find any good news in the newspaper business these days.
Just two weeks ago, researchers at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications reported more than 200 U.S. counties are now “news deserts,” without local reporting. Another 228 are at high risk of losing their local newspapers.
The report also points out this seismic shift opens a world of possibilities–which brings me to the story of 16-year-old Michael Glenn.
Glenn lives in Hutchinson, Kansas, which is located about 60 miles northwest of Wichita. There’s a community college and a nature center and a really cool-looking museum in a working, underground mine. The town hosts the Kansas State Fair, which this year celebrated its sesquicentennial.
Hutchinson, Kansas, is not Hutchinson, Minnesota, which anyone who lives in Kansas would probably know. Unfortunately, nobody who runs the community news outlet–owned by media giant Gannett–lives in Hutchinson, Kansas.
In fact, if you click on the “Contact Us” button at hutchnews.com, you’ll find under the “Newsroom” heading not a single name. No editor. No reporters. Just a mailing address, an 800 phone number, and a “Help Center” that promises to connect you with staff but never does.
Had a Kansan been at the helm, the paper would not have published a front-page photo of senior citizens from Hutchinson, Minnesota, enjoying a day out on the lake.
But I’m kind of glad they did.
Without reporting on this absurd mix-up, I would never have known about Michael Glenn and his news website, The Hutchinson Tribune. Glenn had become frustrated by Gannett’s cannibalization of what was once a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper. His website now covers government meetings, elections, high school sports, and more, giving his community more than four times the news published by his “competition”.
The story of Glenn’s fight for real news has been a bright spot in our very weary world. It reminds me there is hope for journalism, and it has done this old journalist’s heart a world of good.