Journalists can get reminiscent about our first jobs. The characters. The stories. The newsrooms themselves. This project, documenting 100+ newspaper newsrooms in rural Kansas, is not that. poynter.org/business-work/…
LSU photography professor Jeremiah Ariaz was looking for signs of democracy in rural America leading up to the 2020 election. When a man in Haskell County, Kansas invited him into his newsroom, Ariaz realized there was another story to tell, and it was about rural newspapers. 
Local newspapers continue closing. There's growth amongst for- and non-profit online news. But this project looks at newspapers from a different frame. It’s not just the news for and about a community. It’s the space in and for the community, too.
Jeremiah's project is called Fourth Estate. He visited newspapers that were open, stood outside those that had closed or moved, and saw what happens when newsrooms have actual space for the community. You can see more of his images here
jeremiahariaz.com/fourth-estate
jeremiahariaz.com/fourth-estate
In the newsrooms still open, he often found spaces with layers of technology - linotype machines, a printer's drawer. “A lot of these spaces were really like stepping back into time.”
When he tried to visit bigger papers in bigger towns, he could never get anyone on the phone or inside the building to respond.
In his images, I saw reflections of the people @TeriFinneman and @willthewordguy spoke to for our 2021 oral history project documenting midwestern journalists through the pandemic poynter.org/the-essential-…
@TeriFinneman @willthewordguy And it made me think of all the newsrooms that left their physical spaces, and the ones rethinking what physical space in a community could and should be poynter.org/business-work/…
@TeriFinneman @willthewordguy Jeremiah's final project will come out as a newspaper itself, which I can't wait to see.
@TeriFinneman @willthewordguy And if this IS making you feel a bit yearn-y for the very imperfect past, send me an image of your first newsroom. If I get enough, I'll share them next week in my newsletter. I don't have any, but my memories of Nelda the secretary are quite strong.
mailchi.mp/poynter/xlfle0…
mailchi.mp/poynter/xlfle0…
@TeriFinneman @willthewordguy Also also thank you to my school chum @mrt_journ for making sure I saw this story. He also wrote about it here
kansasreflector.com/2022/10/14/mou…
kansasreflector.com/2022/10/14/mou…
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