Unwelcome news

I started my journalism career as a reporter for a local newspaper, ­covering school board and city council meetings. But I learned the value of community journalism when a major hurricane bowled over our city. All the major U.S. news outlets descended to cover the carnage. But only the locals reported the level of detail residents wanted and then stuck around to write about the aftermath and recovery. That type of local journalism is becoming increasingly rare. Gary Perilloux, another old newshound, explains why in his story “Breaking News” in this issue. After he finished wiping the tears from his eyes, I asked him to reflect on why community newspapers are so important.

What were some of the most interesting stories you covered as a local reporter? Sometimes, covering the news takes a comic turn. In 2008, I ­covered the North American Leaders Summit in New Orleans, where President George W. Bush danced a jig with a Gallier Hall jazz band. I got caught up in the act and separated from the White House press pool. They ­dispatched a classified courier to whisk me to the next stop. But I couldn’t rejoin the press gaggle until enduring a full-body frisk in the street—just moments before Bush, Mexican President Felipe Calderón, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped out of their limousines.

When Bush’s father was president in the wake of the 1980s Iran-Contra affair, a Louisiana reader who went by “Calamity Jeanne” summoned me to investigate rumors of Nicaraguan ­revolutionaries mustering behind her trailer, which abutted a National Guard site. Turns out, they were Central Americans, but they were actually law enforcement agents in legitimate ­training. We set the record straight.

Why do stories like that matter? Rumors were rampant in the Calamity Jeanne story. We separated fact from ­fiction and told a vivid story that put the community at ease. To show her appreciation, Jeanne made a clay-based statuette topped by a green toy soldier. I still have it.

If you could bring back one thing from the heyday of local journalism, what would it be? A craving for well-crafted local journalism. A Hillsdale College professor recently asked how many among his class of 30 read the Sunday paper. Not a single hand went up. That’s why the advertising base has dried up. And that’s why newspapers are an endangered species. If millions of Americans returned as subscribers, the advertising base would return with them. And we’d have a much better ­informed citizenry.