Local Voices Needed For Local News Forum

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

University of North Carolina’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media defines a “news desert” as “a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level.”

Journalism and the Free Press are often referred as “The Fourth Estate,” a reference laden with historical significance dating back to European feudalism. The Press exists to preserve truth and integrity, to share information freely among all people without fear of censorship from government or corporate interests. Beyond that, it is the role of a Free Press to present fact with as little bias or opinion as possible.

An informed populace is better able to make decisions that benefit the whole, more so at a city or town level. Having access to decisions made by city council and the various boards and commissions that help keep a city like Longmont in operation allows the citizens to choose where they can be involved.

With recent events involving Longmont’s Library District feasibility, the new Public Access media space, as well as the historically Longmont-focused Times-Call being relocated to Boulder under the ownership of Prairie Mountain News, there are concerns to be addressed about the state of journalism, not just at a national level, but more importantly a local one. 

With more news outlets, from papers to television stations, being purchased by corporate conglomerates like Sinclair Media and the McClatchy Group, local and community-driven news has dwindled in the past decade. Groups like FreePress.net and the Colorado Media Project have worked to return community journalism to prominence.

Nancy Watzman, director of the Colorado Media Project, spoke to the vital need for community support. "An independent, strong press is crucial to our democracy. Yet in a time of polarization, trust in the media is at near all-time lows. Trust in local media remains a bright spot - people tend to trust the reporter they know as part of their community. The problem is - where is the local media to trust? With newspapers closing,  and reporting staffs shrinking, who will provide this vital function for us? What are ways we can support media to give us the information we crave?"

On Wednesday, October 16th, 2019, the Longmont Museum will host an open forum on journalism and local media, Local Voices for Local News. Open to the public, the forum starts at 6 p.m., with a series of short talks, followed by a forum for community engagement. 

One of many efforts to bring back community journalism, the forum hopes to ask many questions of the people of Longmont. What issues need to be covered? Whose stories need to be told? How can local news best serve the needs of Longmont and Boulder County's diverse population, and in particular its most under-served?