5X社区

Bridging the News Gap in East Palestine, Ohio

A year ago, national media outlets descended on East Palestine, Ohio, after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the rural Columbiana County village on Feb. 3, 2023. The consequences are still unfolding, but as national media have moved onto covering other stories, a news gap has emerged. Four Kent State journalism seniors have been filling that gap, with support from Grist and the Center for Rural Strategies.

鈥淭here are a lot of people that live in rural areas, and they deserve the same amount and quality of coverage as anybody else,鈥 said Media and Journalism Professor Jacqueline Marino. 鈥淲hat our students are doing is top rate, and if we didn鈥檛 get this grant, and do this work, I don鈥檛 think that anybody would have ever covered this.鈥

Journalism majors Mariah Alanskas, 鈥24, Sophia Lucente, 鈥23, Grace Springer, 鈥23 and Sophie Young, 鈥23,  have been actively visiting East Palestine, interviewing residents and political figures. Marino, who has been mentoring the students, says the students have created comprehensive narratives shedding light on the outcome and updates of the derailment. Their work aims to inform the public about the aftermath while amplifying the voices of those directly impacted by the incident.

Grist and the Center for Rural Strategies awarded $100,000 to newsrooms and freelance journalists to cover rural reporting projects several months ago, and Kent State鈥檚 Collaborative NewsLab was one of 15 recipients selected. NewsLab was established in 2020 to provide mentored and paid professional reporting experiences for Media and Journalism students, while also connecting under-resourced professional media partners with quality, reliable coverage focused on local communities and issues.

Students鈥 investigative stories involve . They鈥檝e also covered the 鈥 some of whom are still living in hotels 鈥 t, , mainly focusing on volunteer fire departments, like East Palestine鈥檚, and .

Ideastream Public Media published the stories in December 2023. Students had the opportunity to visit the Cleveland newsroom to record their narratives.

While granted the autonomy to pursue their chosen narratives independently, the students receive guidance and counsel from Professor Marino and Media and Journalism Instructor Rosalie (Rosie) Murphy, a professional journalist. Ideastream鈥檚 Andrew Meyer (Deputy Editor 鈥 News) and Kent State alumna Abigail Bottar (Reporter/Producer), are also regularly working with the students.

鈥淩osie is a great editor; she helps us figure out the angle of the story and the way to get what we鈥檙e trying to convey, and Andrew also helps with this,鈥 said Young, one of the student reporters. 鈥淲e鈥檙e treated like adults, and they鈥檙e so respectful and helpful.鈥

Students have learned skills beyond conventional journalism, such as audio recording, script writing and broadcasting. They鈥檙e also learning how to truly think like reporters 鈥  not students in reporting class, who need to get the professor鈥檚 approval for everything.

鈥淲e did have ideas that we wanted pursued, but they鈥檙e on their own doing stuff, and we鈥檙e just checking in, helping and guiding them,鈥 said Marino. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 this great confidence that I鈥檓 seeing in them that I didn鈥檛 see a year or two ago, that鈥檚 very exciting from a professor standpoint.鈥

Young, in particular, has found an avenue in journalism she may not have previously considered with her past semester work. She was excited when she learned NewsLab had received the grant from Grist because she鈥檇 been following the organization for a while on X (formerly Twitter).

鈥淭o have real-world experience while in college makes you so much more marketable and teaches you about yourself and your career,鈥 said Young, 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 know where to go or what to do if I didn鈥檛 have the experience I had.鈥

In addition to being published by Ideastream and across the Ohio Newsroom鈥檚 extensive network of NPR affiliates, the stories have been published on the NewsLab website under a Creative Commons license.

鈥淚 think the most valuable part is learning how to do long investigative projects, and I'm grateful (for) the opportunity to work on this,鈥 said student reporter Lucente.

POSTED: Monday, November 27, 2023 01:00 PM
Updated: Thursday, February 1, 2024 04:46 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Eve Krejci, '24