David Journal-News vs Goliath Times

By Gordon Hopkins So, I have a question for you. Now, don't just blurt out an answer. Don't assume the obvious answer is the right answer. Think about it. So, here is my question:Which is more important, The New York Times or The Fairbury Journal-News.No, scratch that. Important isn't the right word. Vital? Needed? Yeah, needed. Which is more needed?To help you answer that question, let me ask you another question. Can you name me one story in The New York Times that isn't being covered by at least a dozen other news outlets?Here, on the other hand, we cover stories that no one else is looking at.As national news becomes more and more homogeneous, news writing becomes more and more about news re-writing, with the big dogs recycling each other's work. On the internet, those knuckleheads who take straight news stories and twist them to fit a preferred political narrative may soon find themselves supplanted by AIs capable of cranking out millions of word of dubious accuracy in the time it takes a writer at Huffpo or Breitbart to upload a single, badly-sourced article.Yet, through it all, small-town, local journalists continue to put out stories about the county fair and the homecoming parade and old-man Cunningham's shed that got sucked up by a tornado and, occasionally, in the midst of all that, truly important stories about injustice and corruption and community that people really need to know.Usually, that truly important writing goes unnoticed by the rest of the world. Usually, but not always. A few years ago, Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Times in Iowa took home a Pulitzer for his editorial writing. More recently, some Alabama-based reporters were awarded a Pulitzer for their covered of local police corruption.By and large, the big dogs tend to forget we are here, till we come up with something juicy enough to filch. Actually, that's probably for the best. Whenever the big dogs from one coast or the other decide to venture into the vast, mysterious, unexplored Midwest, it feels to me like the reporters ought to be wearing pith helmets and safari jackets, because they always sound like they are reporting about an undiscovered tribe located in some jungle and not a place in the same country, with the same culture.I suspect, as the big dogs continue to cut staff and whittle down resources, like every newspaper in the country, they will find themselves more and more dependent on the local reporters for their copy.It is always somewhat ironic when local reporting make national headlines. Especially so in a time when more and more local newspapers are struggling just to keep the lights on.

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