INSTITUTE
FOR RURAL JOURNALISM & COMMUNITY ISSUES
Public
Perceptions of the Role of the Mass Media in Rural Appalachia
Eastern
Kentucky University
November 8, 2002
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The Institute for Rural Journalism & Community Issues (IRJCI) Initiative
invited individuals from the media, universities, and communities to Eastern
Kentucky University to discuss Public Perceptions of the Role of the Mass
Media in Rural Appalachia on November 8, 2002. This seminar, held at the
EKU Perkins Conference Center, was jointly sponsored by the University
of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University. The twenty-four participants
were:
-Dr. Chike Anyaegbunam, UK Professor of Journalism
-Ron Catchen, Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Montgomery Co.
-Robin Cooper, Mayor of the City of Paintsville
-Tom Eblen, Managing Editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader
-Dr. Ron Eller, Professor of History and former Director of the
UK Appalachian Center
-Dr. Renee Everett, Chair of the EKU Dept. of Communication
-Dr. Lori Garkovich, UK Professor of Rural Sociology
-Ferrel Guillory, Director of the Program on Southern Politics,
Media, & Public Life at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
-Dr. Elizabeth Hansen, EKU Professor of Journalism and President
of the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
-Dr. Gary Hansen, Chair of the UK Dept. of Community and Leadership
Development
-Guy Hatfield, Publisher of the Citizen Voice & Times, Irvine
-Steve Hensley, WYMT-TV Anchor
-Lisa Hornung, Editor of the Richmond Register
-Lisa Jones, EKU Graduate Student
-Jennifer Lavender, Manager of Communications for the Christian
Appalachian Project
-Dr. Roy Moore, UK Professor of Journalism and Associate Dean
for Graduate Studies
-Mark Mullins, Chair of the Jackson/Breathitt Co. Chamber of Commerce
-John Nelson, Managing Editor of The Advocate Messenger, Danville
-Leonard Press, Founding Director of Kentucky Educational Television
-Al Smith, Veteran Print and Broadcast Journalist and Former Director
of the Appalachian Regional Commission
-Ron Smith, WEKU-FM
-Deborah Stigall, IRJCI Graduate Assistant and UK Graduate Student
-Lou Warrix, Breathitt Co. Judge Executive-Elect
-Deborah Witham, UK Professor of Agricultural Communications
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The seminar began with a welcome to EKU by Dr.
Renee Everett. Al Smith then provided a history of the IRJCI Initiative
and the long-range plans of the proposed Institute. Smith discussed how
absentee ownership of media has impacted Appalachian communities. The
goal of the Initiative is to develop a permanent Institute based at the
University of Kentucky. The IRJCI will be responsible for coordinating
the resources of several Appalachian universities and colleges to assist
media outlets in improving coverage and relationships in their communities.
The Institute is currently seeking long-term funding.
Dr. Elizabeth Hansen introduced the facilitator for the morning and afternoon
discussion sessions, Dr. Lori Garkovich. Dr. Garkovich prompted all participants
to introduce themselves and to discuss a key challenge confronting Appalachia
today. A summary of the challenges mentioned include:
-Accepting and adapting
to change
-Promoting leadership for change
-Retaining and attracting professionals
-Defining, presenting, and sustaining a positive community identity
-Empowering local people to act for their own interests and future
-Economic development and environmental sustainability
-Recognizing the connectedness between media and the community,
but not being overwhelmed by it
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The participants then broke up into two groups
and discussed their perspectives on the current situation. The groups
considered the following questions and offered ideas.
What are the media doing well in providing coverage of events and
issues of concern to rural Appalachia as well as the challenges you have
just identified? In other words, what are the strengths of the media?
-Regional TV (Continuity)
-Local angle
-Local, local, local (strength for weeklies)
-Youth coverage
-Individuality—local newspapers/media represent the unique
interests and qualities of their communities
-Issue support (editorial presence)
-Employing well educated staff
-Chain ownership pays better, retaining better staff
-Cultural coverage
-Local government coverage for dailies
-Political coverage
-Instant response to local situations, issues, concerns
-Competition—some communities support more than one paper
-What are the media doing now that they could do better?
-Local business coverage—more coverage of local businesses
to encourage local economic growth
-Editor and publisher spend more time in the community—many
are from outside the community and they need to make an effort
to become knowledgeable about and involved in the communities
-Encourage diversity of thought, a forum for ideas
-Keep websites up to date, especially for local community papers
because they often serve as a gateway to the community for persons
and organizations outside the area
-Accentuate the positive aspects of the community—don’t
always focus on the negative
-Provide a context for the deliberations and decisions of local
government that are reported by the local media
-Journalists should develop their knowledge of government and
politics—especially since their understanding of how local
governments operate and their relationships with state and federal
government
-Defining the role of the media to the community
-Work to gain diverse perspectives on issues
-Put local issues into a regional context
-What needs to be done in providing coverage for rural Appalachia
that the media ought to be doing?
-Explain role of a local newspaper—what are the professional
responsibilities of a newspaper and how can these play out within
the expectations of local people for the media
-Establish working relationships with officials
-Follow-up on stories/issues covered in earlier editions
-Provide more depth/context to the stories covered
-Investigative reporting
-Distinguish between news and editorial content
-Don’t categorize or stereotype politicians/businesses/organizations
(labels can be inaccurate)
-Get facts first
o Often don’t have staff
or resources for in-depth coverage
o Issues are complex…how can rural newspapers cover
them better?
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-Pool resources and collaborate
with partners in the community and the region to enhance the quality
and breadth of coverage
o Use websites to collect/share
information
o Combine resources from universities and media (Appalachian
sidewalk)
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Dr. Roy Moore introduced the keynote speaker for
the seminar, Ferrel Guillory. Guillory presented results of the State
of the South report he completed for the MDC. The report detailed components
of the South’s old economy and the challenges that face the South’s
new economy. Success in the new economy requires globalization, a shift
from manufacturing, advances in technology, and the encouragement of managerial
talent. Guillory showed statistics that demonstrated that the South’s
most prospering areas are metro. Rural areas are falling further behind
as they lack competitive advantage in the current economy. Guillory discussed
the six building blocks of Community Development: Business Development,
Workforce Development, Physical Infrastructure, Social Infrastructure,
Cultural and Environmental Stewardship, and Civic Infrastructure. He also
described the eight recommendation of the MDC panel in confronting challenges
in the South. They are:
-Refocus the state
agencies responsible for economic development to pursue a broader,
more strategic approach. State governments should not measure
success simply by the number of new jobs, but also in terms of
higher incomes for people and improved competitiveness of regions
within the states.
-Modernize tax systems, so that states have the fiscal capacity
to provide excellent education, widely accessible job training,
necessary infrastructure, and community amenities that enrich
the soil for economic advancement.
-Tighten performance criteria for industrial incentives –
and encourage associations of Southern governors and legislators
to reexamine the one-dimensional, incentives-driven recruitment
strategy in favor of a comprehensive economic development strategy.
-Preserve and enhance rural communities by forging regional collaborations
and rural/metropolitan linkages to break their isolation and improve
their competitiveness.
-Develop a set of metropolitan-focused policies to assure sustained
economic and quality-of-life improvements in burgeoning metro
areas on which the South has grown increasingly dependent.
-Dramatically expand efforts to erase serious deficits along the
entire education continuum in the South, and bolster the education,
health, and well being of children from birth to five-years-old
as a prelude to greater achievement.
-Draw on the power of the South's universities and community colleges
to act as catalysts for state and regional economic advancement.
-Aggressively support universities, community colleges, and nonprofits
to prepare public officials to address the region's tough challenges
and to raise up a new generation of civic leaders.
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Copies of the State of the South 2002: Shadows
in the Sunbelt Revisited can be obtained by consulting the MDC website
at www.mdcinc.org.
The second discussion session of the conference discussed perspectives
on the future. The participants considered the ideal situation for the
rural media.
What is your vision for media coverage in Rural Appalachia?
-Knowledgeable staff
connected to the community
-Build a high level of trust with the community
-Help people to understand the roles of the media within the community
-To have adequate resources to provide coverage that the community
needs and wants
-Be open to new ideas, not tied to traditional way of doing business
-Media cooperate with each other where appropriate to improve
coverage of issues
-Media see their role as beyond basic news (provide context, explanation,
act as a watchdog)
-Effectively communicate with readers/listeners/viewers
-Lots of professionally trained reporters with specialized knowledge
to cover everything
-Find ways to use nonprofessionals in the community as resources
-Develop a unified reporting area (regional focus)
-Pay higher salaries for journalists to improve recruitment and
retention
-More in-depth reporting
-Help to break down the differences between perceptions vs. reality
about Appalachia
-Offer paid internships
-Act as a champion of the community when appropriate
-Report the truth to solve problems
-Help the community develop pride—learn how to win
-Foster a positive attitude of journalists and viewers about the
media
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What would people say is
the role of the media?
-Trust—to
establish trust with readers and the community
-Cooperation with others to increase resources—increase
coverage
-Clearly define the role of the media
-Have knowledge of and establish a relationship with the community
-Communicate effectively
-Fairness of coverage
-Contribute to community problem-solving
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How can the media get to the ideal?
-Always have a quality
product
-Create strong messages/interesting messages that are talked about
by the people in the community
-Encourage more communication between media and public about roles
and expectations
-Continually update training of professionals
-Offer citizens opportunities to be part of the media process
-The Editor in communication with the community—possibly
an editorial column
-Use partners to present data on the community that provides a
context for understanding the local issues—possibly do this
through University and community partnerships
-Provide a place for local government to have its turn on a community
issue
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What can the community do?
-Be in conversation
with the newspaper
-Express its quality standards
-Expect a good quality product
-Support responsible media
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Also during the session, Dr. Moore encouraged everyone to be more knowledgeable
and involved in the IRJCI by reading the information in the registration
packet, visiting the website, and joining the list serv.
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