Why Local News - by Rick Thames (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A school board vote quietly reshapes your child's education. A mayoral candidate's record goes unexamined. A planning board approves industrial development beside a residential neighborhood. Although it is the responsibility of local news journalists to inform their communities of such developments, their numbers have declined in recent years, contributing to the ebbing of civic engagement.

In this book, a veteran journalist shares firsthand experiences in which ethical local journalism positively influenced institutions and strengthened communities. He analyzes the forces that have dissolved public trust in the press and offers pathways for rebuilding this trust. Offering a defense of local journalism, the author also challenges readers to consider what is lost when responsibly reported local news disappears.

Review Quotes

"Rick Thames writes with the clarity and authority of someone who has spent a lifetime navigating the hardest questions in journalism--what we owe our audiences, how we lead in moments of uncertainty and how we hold fast to our values when the ground keeps shifting beneath us. This is not a nostalgic look back at what journalism used to be but a clear-eyed, deeply practical guide to what it must become. Grounded in experience and shaped by sound judgment, Thames offers a steady, thoughtful approach to leadership at a time when trust is fragile and the pressure to adapt is constant. He reminds us that the future of journalism won't be built on speed or scale alone but on discipline, credibility and a renewed commitment to the public we serve. This is a book for leaders who want to move forward--without losing what matters most."--Robyn Tomlin, executive director, American Press Institute

About the Author

Rick Thames, the retired executive editor of the Charlotte Observer, spent 40 years finding stories that mattered to cities big and small. His new quest now as a university lecturer and author is to help restore the vital reporting on local news that is rapidly disappearing from every American community.