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There is no doubt that local news is in crisis. More than half of U.S. counties have limited or no access to local news, according to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Since 2005, the United States has lost close to 2,900 newspapers. This poses a major threat to American democracy. Local politicians affect the everyday lives of citizens, far more than national officials, but the dearth of smaller news media means no one is keeping the mayors and school board members in check as they make decisions about how taxes will be spent, how classes will be taught, and how roads will be built.
That said, there is still crucial journalism happening at the local level, a feat made all the more impressive by the contraction of media across the country. These recent Peabody winners demonstrate how local reporters are the first line of defense against everything from crumbling infrastructure and a failing 911 emergency system to extremism festering in local institutions.
‘Hate Comes to Main Street’
As MAGA-bred Tennessee alderwoman Gabrielle Hanson ran for mayor of the town of Franklin on a far-right platform touting Christian nationalism and anti-LGBTQ policies, WTVF Newschannel 5’s Phil Williams looked into her background, only to find a history of lies and hypocrisy. Among his revelations: Hanson had falsified social media posts claiming strong female voter support, had run a prostitution service under another name, had lied to police about having a premonition of a school shooting, and supported her husband’s run for office in Chicago while claiming residency in Tennessee. Williams continued to pursue the wild story despite repeated threats from Hanson’s Neo-Nazi bodyguards (Williams quipped, “When I look at you guys, I do not think master race”) and supporters trying to block him from asking her questions at public events, an example of the tenacity of the best local reporters. Hollywood producers could do worse than to snap this one up for adaptation.
Where to Watch: NewsChannel5 Nashville
‘911 Hanging on the Line’
The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit examined the 911 emergency system after an Oakland, California, police officer almost died after being stabbed while waiting for his call to connect to an operator. Their findings revealed major problems at the city, state, and federal levels, but mostly at the city level: Oakland, indeed, had the worst response time in all of California, with callers often encountering busy signals in their time of need. The report prompted Oakland to spend millions of dollars fixing its 911 system, demonstrating how local reporting can lead to real change.
Where to Watch: NBC Bay Area
‘The Big Dig’
“There is a cynicism that hangs over the topic of American infrastructure—whether it’s high-speed rail or off-shore wind—it feels like this country can’t build big things anymore,” The Big Dig‘s website says. This podcast illuminates an impressive instance in which something big was successfully built: Boston’s massive, multi-decade effort to bury an above-ground highway cutting through the heart of Boston, and to link that tunnel to another one stretching under the city harbor to Logan Airport. Though the project was ridiculed as a boondoggle throughout its construction, this WGBH podcast shows that it not only got done, but improved locals’ lives.
Where to Listen: WGBH
‘Nowhere to Turn’
KARE11’s investigation begins in Minnesota and reveals a nationwide pattern of privately contracted guards raping inmates and pre-trial detainees that they were hired to transport. The team’s review of thousands of documents and media reports, as well as their interviews with former guards, detainees, and lawyers, shows that warnings were ignored and legal loopholes abound. This harrowing story is exactly what local journalism is built to uncover, when local journalism is properly funded and supported.
Where to Watch: KARE11
‘The Wrong Man’
Two decades ago, Glynn Simmons, an imprisoned man, sent a letter to reporter Ali Meyer of Oklahoma’s News 4 arguing that he was innocent of the crime he’d been convicted of, a liquor store robbery that resulted in murder. Meyer began investigating, and found problems with both the evidence and the trial. He was convicted—and even sentenced to death—based on the eyewitness testimony of one surviving victim who had been shot in the head. (His death sentence was commuted to life in prison by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1977.) He was not assigned an attorney before he was charged, and the lawyer he did get made egregious errors, like not speaking up when the prosecutor identified Simmons, who’s left-handed and missing his trigger finger on his right hand, as the right-handed gunman. Simmons’ and Meyer’s persistence eventually paid off, resulting in his freedom just last year after nearly 50 years in prison.
Where to Watch: KFOR
Reporter Phil Williams’s Peabody Acceptance for ‘Hate Comes to Main Street’
Williams recounts, “Recently a very nice African-American woman came up to me at a department store in this community that we had investigated, and she suddenly started tearing up. Her name is Toni. Toni quickly explained that her tears came from the fact that, as she put it, ‘I don’t have a voice, but you are my voice.'”
Where to Watch: PeabodyAwards.com