The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

Does American democracy survive without the backbone of independent local journalism?

That question serves as the theme of the documentary, “Storm Lake,” airing recently on the PBS show, “Independent Lens.” The segment follows the daily ins and outs of Art Cullen and his family, who run the Storm Lake Times, which debuted in 1990. Initially, the paper printed weekly, with Friday distribution. Within three years, the Times began printing daily. A month later, another newspaper in Storm Lake started printing daily and the town, with a population of approximately 8,500 at the time, garnered national media attention as the smallest city in the United States with competing daily newspapers. Now, the Times staff prints two editions each week.

What’s unique about the Times? In 2016, editor and co-founder Art Cullen won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing after investigating who was paying legal fees for several counties involved in a lawsuit regarding polluted drinking water.

Ultimately, Cullen’s editorials showed the importance of government transparency and the influence of corporate agriculture. Honest and powerful writing. A well-deserved win.

After the Pulitzer announcement, the paper lost both subscribers and advertisers over what some residents viewed as disloyalty to the locals.

The documentary also touches on the vital role community journalism plays and the struggle small publications face to stay afloat. To paraphrase, If we have $2,000 in the bank, it’s a good day.

Cullen says, “People want news for free,” comparing it to what he calls breakfast news, what an individual reads while eating a bowl of cereal. “That’s not how you sustain democracy.”

Watching the documentary reminds me of a couple points worth repeating.

Quality journalism - a quality newspaper that provides honest and truthful reporting - costs money.

Last week, a New York-based hedge fund proposed purchasing Lee Enterprises, which publishes a number of papers in Nebraska, including the Omaha World-Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, Kearney Hub, Grand Island Independent and the Scottsbluff Star-Herald. If the hedge fund group follows the same practices employed when they purchased the Denver Post and The Mercury News in San Jose, California, these Nebraska newsrooms will be stripped to bare-bones staff, covering only the bare minimum.

This scenario cannot happen. Without journalists covering city councils and school boards, supervisors and zoning boards, how will citizens - many of whom do not attend meetings - be made aware of what transpires? Who will hold government entities accountable? Trust in government vanishes when news coverage from a watchdog is not in place to promote accountability.

If you haven’t watched “Storm Lake,” pencil time into your schedule.

“Storm Lake” also reminds me that the news business is not a get rich quick business. I’ve known that since I started freelancing and owning a publication serves as reinforcement. We’re in this business because we believe in the power of journalism. We believe in community and the power of having a well-read community. We believe one story does make a difference.

Cullen says, “A strong Iowa community will be as strong as its newspaper and its banks.”

We believe the same is true in Nebraska.