This is part 4 in a 5-part series. Here is part 1, part 2, and part 3. Our goal is to give you a look into how we fund our reporting, what we have planned in 2022, and how we’re working to expand our coverage. We’ll cover a lot, but there’s no way to anticipate every question. If we missed something or you want to go deeper, make sure to email either Angie Cirone or Jay Allred.
By now, after nearly seven years and non-stop messaging, you might know that we practice Solutions Journalism. If you don’t, there are three things you absolutely must know about it.
-
Solutions Journalism is about responses to problems. Not just problems.
-
It makes people feel more hopeful.
-
It’s rigorous reporting that drives results.
Here’s some of the best reporting we’ve done across Richland, Ashland and Knox Counties in 2022 and the changes it inspired.
Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero and others used our extensive reporting on the situation at Westinghouse to lobby the Governor of Ohio to change direction and approve $4M in funding in less than 24 hours.
The Ashland County Health Department disabled its Facebook page in December 2021 and Ashland Source covered the story with readers citing inconsistent reasoning.
In April 2022, health commissioner Vicki Taylor said the department will launch a new page with a fresh look. A health educator/public information officer will also be hired to facilitate health education and communication via website and social media.
Report for America Corp Member Emma Davis authored a five-part series on the agriculture industry, Successful Succession. It outlined north central Ohio farmers’ concerns about farming later in life, processing for connecting beginning and retiring farmers, networking through established organizations, embracing change in the classroom and beyond, and agriculture’s future locally.
-
The series received extensive positive feedback from the farming community and Davis will be a guest on the Ohio Farm Bureau’s radio show, Our Ohio Weekly, to talk about her work with RFA and coverage of farming in rural Ohio.
-
Twin Oak Elementary principal Adam Mowery referred to Successful Succession and linked it in his presentation to the school board when talking about how and why his school is preparing students for agriculture-related careers. More specifically, Twin Oak staff is applying for grants to provide more agriculture-related opportunities to students (i.e. garden beds, farm-to-table work).
A reader question prompted a three-part series on the benefits of investing in wildflowers for municipalities. The story generated impact within weeks as the Richland County Land Bank voted to transfer two parcels of land in Mansfield to Oasis Foundation to be developed into wildflower gardens. Senior Pastor of The Oasis of Love Church Raymond Cochran cited the article when making his case to the land bank.
Knox Pages followed up on the tech-savvy signage installed by the Knox County Park District at the Kokosing River’s 10 access points — ahead of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources schedule. Anecdotal feedback indicates people are using the signage after a pair of fatalities in the river just a couple of years earlier.
If you haven’t yet become a member, and would like to fund the journalism that generates impact in north central Ohio, we encourage you to become a member today.
