What our journalists learned at News & Brews in Lititz this week

• Tom Murse
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Our readers and listeners want more reporting about the good things their neighbors are doing, stories that uplift and inspire their communities.

They also want more investigative reporting at the local level, watchdog journalism that holds elected officials accountable.
And they’re worried about the decline of democracy, about those in office or who are seeking office avoiding the public and press because their ideas are extreme.

Nearly 50 people brought their ideas about news coverage and concerns in their communities to a discussion with reporters and editors of WITF and LNP Media Group in Lancaster County Thursday night.

The discussions, part of WITF’s ongoing “News & Brews” events held across the region, are designed to inform journalists and their work.
WITF owns LNP Media Group, which publishes LNP, the daily newspaper in Lancaster County, and its flagship news site, LancasterOnline; The Lititz Record Express, a weekly newspaper; and The Ephrata Review, also a weekly newspaper. The combined newsrooms employ about 85 journalists.

The event was hosted by Lititz Shirt Factory in Lititz.

Lancaster resident Jonathan Bornman was succinct: He asked us to amplify the positive. Too much of the news is bad.

“We want to hear good things,” he said.

 

He is far from alone.

The number of people who say they avoid the news remains at an all-time high. Researchers at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford found news consumers want more positive stories and solutions-based journalism instead.

The Climate Solutions collaboration, in which WITF is a partner, has produced several solutions-based stories and videos, and both WITF and LNP plan to do solutions journalism on other topics.

Other News & Brews attendees said they value stories that promote empathy and understanding and uplift communities. Often the loudest voices get the attention in news reporting, they said; less-extreme people who may be reticent to speak up should be heard, too.

Several attendees expressed appreciation for deep reporting at the local level, particularly on school boards and meetings where the culture wars over proposed book bans and policies limiting transgender participation in sports have fueled rancor.

Shelly Chmil, a parent and educator in the Warwick School District in Lititz, said the upcoming election for school board would “determine the morale” in the district and surrounding community.

“It’s pretty crucial,” she said. As is the reporting on such elections.

Some attendees said people expect news organizations, including WITF and LNP | LancasterOnline, to host candidate forums even if some candidates refuse to participate. They said forums help people understand where candidates stand on the issues and how they conduct themselves in public.

Theodora Graham of Columbia, who described herself as an avid newspaper reader, said deep reporting at the local level is incredibly important to the community much as investigative reporting at the national level is vital to the country.
“Investigative reporting is the sine qua non,” Graham said.