Take a moment, close your eyes, and imagine what a small-town newspaper office looks like.
What did you see?
Perhaps you envisioned a tiny, brick office space tucked in the middle of Main Street. The rich scent of coffee wafts through the air, and the click-clack of keyboards rings in your ears. In the wooden desk beside you, a journalist flips through his ink-stained notepad as he writes an article about last weekend’s bake sale.
If you imagined a newsroom along those lines, you might not be wrong. However, the romanticization of small town news is a common stereotype undermining the true work of journalism in rural communities. Pop culture tends to portray local newsrooms as sharing “the placidity, tradition, and goodness of rural or small-town life”1 and misrepresents the fundamental value of media outlets.
Let’s be honest, though: Local newspapers appear to be obsolete in the digital age. The internet has made information available in a way it never has before. Now, a town’s residents can easily access mainstream news or metropolitan media outlets with the push of a few buttons,2 thus eliminating the need for local sources.
… or so we thought.
Time has shown that while technology has evolved, the need for local discourse and access to information has remained constant. Rural journalism outlets must capitalize the “social, technological, and economic shifts” and reshape the media landscape to meet the needs of their respective communities.3
There are approximately 46.1 million people in the United States who live in rural areas as of 2021.4 Those individuals deserve quality newspaper outlets that report on political, social and cultural news in the context of their region’s values, needs and geography.
Sharing relevant and reliable information through journalism seems simple in theory. However, there are financial pressures, a lack of resources, and competition rural media outlets may face that can hinder their capabilities.
Let’s take a closer look at three media outlets in the rural northwest Ohio region and explore why they continue to operate through the hardships.
The Ada Icon and Bluffton Icon
Paula Pyzik Scott was not a career journalist when she took ownership of the Ada Icon and Bluffton Icon in 2021. Running two newspaper outlets in neighboring rural communities was an unexpected challenge she was eager to tackle.
“This was a total surprise that I would be doing this,” said Scott. “I’m in my 60s. I’m thinking about retirement. And yet, four years ago, the phone rang and somebody said, ‘hey, would you like to buy the Icons?’ … Now, I don’t know if I knew what I was getting into, but I really love it.”
Scott’s decades of experience in production, writing and videography made her a perfect fit as owner-editor of the Icons. Her passion for the Ada and Bluffton communities has pushed her to become a better journalist and write meaningful content for her audience.
As an active community member, Scott makes careful observations on recent developments in town and uses the newspaper to inform her fellow residents. This could be as dramatic as a statewide manhunt after a tragic crime or an inquiry on the $1 million turf field installed on the taxpayers dime. Scott uses her voice to ask thoughtful questions and inspire change.
“I go to all these public meetings, and I see all these decisions being made about money and buildings … I think that in [this size of a] community, you can make a big impact. And if you get enough people together to talk about something, your voices are heard.” – Paula Pyzik Scott
Rural journalists often find themselves in a position where they must balance their professional duties and role as a community member.5 Scott has lived in both neighboring towns and discovered how news reporting helps her advocate for herself as a citizen.
The small town life in Ada and Bluffton is a stark contrast to the suburbs of Detroit where Scott grew up: “you didn’t know the person next to you in line at the grocery store.” Getting answers on serious topics used to be unattainable, so moving to the rural communities was a breath of fresh air for Scott’s inquisitive mind.
“… [In Ada and Bluffton,] you really feel like, hey, I can go to this meeting and speak up,” reflected Scott. “I can ask anybody I want. I can ask questions. Somebody’s going to know somebody who can answer my question.”
The story of Scott’s journalism journey with the Icons is a lesson for why rural journalism matters: Residents who care about their local communities will report on news important to the residents.
Ohio Northern University’s Northern Review
The Ada Icon is not the only newspaper releasing content to the small town of Ada. The community is home to Ohio Northern University, and Northern Review is the student-led media outlet that delivers news to a campus of less than 3,000 undergraduates.
College journalism poses a unique challenge to the concept of “local” news reporting. The ideal audience for university newspapers is the faculty and students, as well as alumni and family members who live past the geographical boundaries of being considered local. Technology has allowed content that used to be confined to a particular region to be shared across the world.
So what does this mean for “local” journalism?
Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of journalism is the audience does not have to reside within a particular place to access content. The modern definition of “local” means more than where you live; it is “who you are, and what you care about.”6 A person may consume Northern Review’s content because Ohio Northern matters to them regardless of whether they live on campus or not.
Shane Tilton, Ph.D., has been the advisor of Northern Review for a decade and has seen how student media impacts a community. His experiences have supported his stance of what it means to be “local.”
Tilton shared, “I’m always of the position that typically those ideas of ‘local’ are dealing with the stories and the shared social experiences that we recognize.”
Bringing life to those “shared social experiences” is what makes journalism meaningful. Media outlets give a platform to topics that matter to their audience, and that is why Northern Review is relevant at a small university.
“There’s a reason that when I talk about journalism, I can simplify the definition,” said Tilton. “Journalism is telling compelling stories to an audience to show why they should care about what’s happening in their community or a community that they care about … If you did not care about Ohio Northern, most likely you wouldn’t be attending here.”
Northern Review is composed of a student team who cares just as much for the ONU community as their peers, despite the many hurdles that come with being a small organization. Limited budgets, a small staff size, and lack of available sources are three of the many challenges Northern Review faces on a regular basis.
View the documentary to learn more about Northern Review’s experiences.
Running a student newspaper at a small university has its challenges. What matters the most is having a team of dedicated individuals who are determined to tell impactful stories to the campus community. In Tilton’s words, “… a good student journalism organization cares about the campus, cares about the student body, cares about the college.”
University of Findlay’s The Pulse
Not too far from the cornfields of Ada is the University of Findlay (UF), home of The Pulse student newspaper. UF has a slightly larger size than Ohio Northern, but their newspaper team operates under similar circumstances that impact their functionality.
Assistant Professor of Media and Communication Amy Rogan has led the next generation of student reporters at UF by teaching journalism, digital media, presentational speaking, and feature writing courses. Not every student in her classroom will pursue a career in journalism, but their in-class experiences plant the seed for why developing media literacy and effective communication skills are important.
Perhaps one of Rogan’s most notable lessons in the newsroom relates to how journalism contributes to civic duty: “…we have to continue to stay true to what journalism is and its role in democracy.”
Most mainstream media outlets focus on the big picture; that is, their coverage is made with a broader audience in mind. The job of local journalists is to take those generalized topics and interpret how they are relevant to the community. They must report on both regional and international news, demonstrating how they shape “economic, political, social, and cultural aspects of daily life in local communities.”7
Residents in small towns can use local newspapers to promote civil discourse in a dynamic political climate. Local papers can be a fresh voice of neutrality when larger outlets use their publication to platform subjectivity.
“If an outlet is calling themselves a conservative news outlet or a liberal news outlet, then they’re probably not really a true news outlet. They’re infotainment,” said Rogan. “They’re catering to a certain audience versus informing the public with news they need. I think people need facts … I think it’s our duty to be as objective as we can, to study what the ethical implications are of what we’re doing.”
It is the reporter’s duty to provide readers with balanced information so they can form their own opinions. Rogan teaches students how to contribute informed perspectives in an industry where complete objectivity is often challenging.
“It is a crucial moment in democracy, and we have to rise to meet it as journalists in a non-biased, objective way,” said Rogan. “You have to do your best to present the facts and let the people decide.”
“The one thing I always, always say to my students—and I used to say to my reporters—was ‘paint the picture, but don’t tell me what to see,’ right?” – Amy Rogan
Local news sources help civic engagement stay alive and oftentimes play a role keeping the community connected.8 Journalism is more than simply reporting on the news, for it is about forming a relationship of trust with the intention of creating insightful dialogue.
Takeaways
The firsthand accounts of rural journalism outlets in Northwest Ohio do not tell the story of local newsrooms across the country. However, the Ada Icon, Bluffton Icon, Northern Review, and The Pulse are four examples of organizations dedicated to providing quality access to information to the community.
Let this article be a reminder of the critical role news reporters play in keeping the local community informed and connected in a world where technology is rapidly changing the journalism landscape.
- Painter, Chad. “Fictional Representations of Journalism.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication, July 2019. Oxford University Press, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.811. ↩︎
- Hindman, Douglas B. “The Rural-Urban Digital Divide.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 77, no. 3, Sept. 2000, pp. 550, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900007700306. ↩︎
- Hess, Kristy, and Lisa Waller. “Local and Hyperlocal Journalism.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication, July 2018. Oxford University Press, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.837. ↩︎
- Davis, James C., et al. “Rural America at a Glance: 2022 Edition.” U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, Nov. 2022 https://doi.org/https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/105155/EIB-246.pdf?v=80519. ↩︎
- Perreault, Mildred F., et al. “What is Rural Journalism? Occupational Precarity and Social Cohesion in US Rural Journalism Epistemology.” Journalism Studies, vol. 25, no. 4, Feb. 2024, pp. 424, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2024.2314206. ↩︎
- Pauly, John J., and Melissa Eckert. “The Myth of “The Local” in American Journalism.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 2, June 2002, pp. 320, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900207900204. ↩︎
- Hess and Lisa Waller, “Local and Hyperlocal Journalism.” ↩︎
- Perreault et al., “What is Rural Journalism?,” 422. ↩︎