Across America newspapers are slashing their staffs or closing their doors. Newspapers employed about a-third fewer professionals in 2013 than they did at their peak in 1989. And staff cut announcements have continued to come in on a regular basis in the past three years.
What this means for the community will be explored in a panel discussion coordinated by
InterCom, the Kalamazoo area’s association of communication professionals.
Breaking the News, a panel discussion, and community conversation, has been set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 19 at the Fetzer Center on the campus of Western Michigan University.
Anna Clark, the
Columbia Journalism Review’s Midwest correspondent based in Detroit, leads the exploration of the changing role of “local” news outlets, the media, and the media’s impact on the community. She is the
Columbia Journalism Review’s Midwest correspondent based in Detroit, and a 2011 Fulbright fellow. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Washington Post, Grantland,
NBCNews.com, Politico Magazine and other publications. She's currently working on a book about the Flint water crisis for Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt.
Owners and executives from some of Michigan’s leading media companies will talk about how trends in media are affecting communities across the state and the country.
Gretchen Johnson, InterCom president, says technology's disruption of the media industry has changed "how, when, where and from whom we get information today." Those changes not only affect communication professionals such as those in InterCom, but have implications for the community at large, she adds.
Johnson points to developments in local media coverage, such as a decline in local arts and entertainment reporting that has driven the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo to consider establishing a new, dedicated arts publication. In February, Western Michigan University’s athletics department directed fans to its online sports news in light of the drop in local coverage.
“Journalism is not just a matter of business; it is a democratic urgency,” says Clark, who cites media coverage of the Flint Water crisis as an example of the important role reporters play in a community’s wellbeing.
In 2015,
Pew Research reported that individuals who consider their community a great place to live tend to have high rates of civic engagement and strong local news habits, Johnson goes on to say. “We’re excited at the opportunity to bring people together to explore what’s happening and discuss the implications of these changes on our community today and in the long term.”
Members of the panel
Sarah Hulett became Assistant News Director of
Michigan Radio after five years as the station’s Detroit reporter, where she contributed to several reporting projects that won state and national awards. The NPR news station serves 500,000 listeners across the Lower Peninsula.
Michael McCullough is the executive editor and content strategist for the
Battle Creek Enquirer, a Ganett publication serving Calhoun County. Mac joined the Enquirer in August 1988 after career stops in Atlantic City, NJ, Norwich Conn., and Stamford, Conn.
Phil Power, Founder & Chairman,
Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine, previously owned a group of 64 community newspapers in Michigan and the upper Midwest that won more state and national awards than any other group in the country.
Paul Schutt is the co-founder of
Issue Media Group, Detroit, which publishes online magazines in 21 regions across the U.S. and Canada, including Kalamazoo-based Second Wave Southwest Michigan. His background is in technology, business development, and strategy.
Source: Gretchen Johnson, InterCom
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