Local Journalism: Covering Disagreement in the Community

The Jefferson Center will host a discussion via Zoom on July 10, 2022 from 4 to 6 pm, examining the challenges and dilemmas journalists confront as they cover contentious local issues.
We’ll discuss the role of media in community controversies, conflicts, and disagreements with two experienced local journalists: Bert Etling, formerly editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings and founder of the news website Ashland.news, and Erik Neumann, interim news director at Jefferson Public Radio.
Please register in advance at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcOGrpz4uHtTo8VkOd6lU1qx9TmB...
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Local journalists often face difficult choices, and their coverage may reverberate in relatively small communities. They may feel squeezed between the goals of full and accurate reporting and avoiding offense to some segments of the community. This is especially true if those they might offend are powerful, influential, and can exert pressure on media to soften their stance.
Imagine that a major toxic waste site is discovered on land slated for redevelopment in Medford, and attributed to negligent practices by a major employer with political influence in the region. As its extent becomes clear, the costs of remediating it rise so high that the company’s future is jeopardized. Should local reporters play down the seriousness of the situation, in the interest of preserving jobs and the company’s reputation? Will they be vulnerable to pressures or threats? How can they respond to them?
Or consider issues like vaccinations and 5G towers, which have aroused vocal opposition from some people, including government officials, based mostly on arguments and data that some call unsound. How should journalists handle coverage of such controversies? Do “both sides” deserve equal consideration in these cases? How far should reporters go in refuting bogus claims?
Or, on perhaps less serious matters, suppose a performing arts reviewer attends a play at OSF (or another local theatre, or another arts event) and finds it mediocre or just plain awful. Perhaps a sports reporter watches the standards for a high school or SOU team deteriorate to the point of incompetence in coaching. Or, a popular local restaurant serves up poor food to a reviewer. Candid reporting risks offending some in the community, but reviews that aren’t honest or forthright can undermine the integrity of the reporters and their media organizations.

Bert Etling is executive editor at Ashland.news, which launched earlier this year. He edited the Ashland Daily Tidings from 2014 to 2019, overseeing a five-fold increase in local content and 30% increase in circulation. Before that, he edited The Cambrian, a weekly newspaper published by the San Luis Obispo Tribune, where he garnered awards for editorial writing and newspaper design, and also edited the Santa Ynez Valley News, the Solvang, CA paper where he began his community journalism career in 1982. Etling holds a degree in philosophy from Stanford University.

Erik Neumann is interim news director at Jefferson Public Radio. He earned a master's degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and joined JPR as a reporter in 2019 after working at NPR member station KUER in Salt Lake City. Erik grew up alongside the Puget Sound and is passionate about the power of narrative storytelling to explore the issues that impact people's lives. He has a diverse range of experience in public radio — reporter, host, producer of live events, and teacher of radio production to young people at Youth Radio in Oakland.