KAWC to host talk on local journalism Wednesday

Panel will discuss several issues at free event

Public radio station KAWC is hosting a “Spirited Discussion” next week about the importance of local journalism at a time when trust in all levels of media is at a low point and has raised security concerns.

The free event will be held 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday Aug. 29 at the Patio Restaurant & Bar at the Hills, 1245 W. Desert Hills Drive, in Yuma. Appetizers will be available and attendees can also order from the regular menu. KAWC News Director Lou Gum, Yuma Sun Editor Roxanne Molenar and News Director Ernesto Romero of KECY/ KSWT/KYMA TV stations will sit on a panel for open discussion about the current climate local journalists operate in, with “fake media” complaints from President Trump and others helping to foster a more combative climate.

John Courtis, executive director of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce, will moderate the group’s discussion about editorial standards, the pleasures and challenges of covering Yuma, and what residents most want from their local news sources.

Consideration of added workplace security measures following the June 28 mass shooting that killed five employees of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md., will also be talked about.

Gum said the idea for this event began to germinate after that tragedy. “Even though it didn’t turn out to be necessarily related to any negative rhetoric, etc., I just didn’t think of myself as a target, and didn’t think of my reporters as a target,” he said.

It particularly reverberated with him because of an incident about a week before, when a KYMA cameraman reported seeing a man making a gesture indicating he was carrying a weapon while asking the crew to leave a Colorado River Tea Party event, When: where former state Rep. Don Shooter was speaking.

“To send a solo reporter, male or female, into some of the situations we do sometimes, and we had never had come up with a way to make sure we stayed in contact, we just assumed that everything would be fine. I don’t think that can be the assumption anymore,” he said.

Local officials, along with the general public, are being invited to air their concerns about Yuma outlets’ coverage of government, schools and other topics affecting the community. But Gum says support and encouragement are other things he’s looking for.

I hope people come in and say, ‘Hey I don’t like the way you do this or do that,’ or maybe just ask, ‘What are your editorial standards? How do you decide what to cover?’ I don’t mind those questions, but I would love to have people who came to say, ‘Hey, we’re with you, we know you’re doing your best.’”

KAWC’s “Spirited Discussions” are held a few times per year, Gum said, featuring guest speakers talking about books or current events. They’re generally held at places where alcohol is available, which is where the “spirited” title comes from.

Indications are that local media outlets’ reputation with their audiences aren’t as affected by the current political climate as much as the national ones, but improving relationships between local journalists and other residents is a primary goal of the event, he said.

“I think the point I wanted to show is that we’re your neighbors and your friends. We’re not an enemy, we’re not anybody to be concerned about. We’re not faking it. We’re not interested in faking it,” he said.