A new nonprofit organization, Mid-Iowa Community News, will soon launch the Ames Voice, a digital newsroom “dedicated to being the primary source of news and information for the Ames area.” Douglas Burns, one of the organizers of the effort, announced in a December 30 post on The Iowa Mercury newsletter that Ames Voice has “been in the works for a year.” Its mission: “local, local, local coverage. Just the facts. Full coverage of life in Story County, home to Ames and Iowa State University.”
Ames is Iowa’s ninth-largest city, with more than 65,000 residents, and home to the Iowa Department of Transportation as well as Iowa’s second-largest state university. Story County is the ninth-largest of the 99 counties, with more than 98,000 residents.
Although the area has long had a newspaper, The Ames Tribune (part of the Gannett group) has eliminated most of its newsroom staff in recent years. The paper now publishes far more content from the Des Moines Register than original reporting.
Burns wrote that the Ames Voice, which plans to launch in early 2025, “is intent on providing thorough and balanced coverage of Iowa agriculture.” Other priority topics will include Iowa State University, schools in Ames and rural Story County, small business, and “news you can use on events, whether civic and government, or entertainment and arts.”
Several people with journalism backgrounds and/or connections to Iowa State University are serving on the Mid-Iowa Community News Community Council. The organization has adopted a policy stating, “Board members, staff, and freelance contributors will strive to represent the diversity and complexity of its readers and community.”
Funding for the Ames Voice will come from “advertising, various sponsorships, grants, and individual donor giving.” Mid-Iowa Community News has pledged not to allow donations or promised contributions to “influence the editorial decision-making process.”
In the interest of transparency, the organization will “publish on its website the names of all institutional and individual donors who give more than $5,000 in a calendar year.” Those donating less than that amount can request to remain anonymous. However, the organization won’t “accept anonymous or confidential donations in aggregate that total more than 5% of its annual revenue.”
I have just signed up as a monthly donor to Mid-Iowa Community News, because you don’t have to live in Ames to recognize the value of this venture. The site is using an “NPR model” for fundraising—no paywalls on their coverage. So local journalism will be available to all, not just those with the spare cash to buy another subscription.
One more thing: KHOI Community Radio regularly provides coverage of Ames happenings and showcases community voices on “Local Talk” and other programs. (Disclosure: I am a part-time KHOI employee and have co-hosted a weekly program on the station since early 2021. “KHOI’s Capitol Week” focuses on Iowa political news, not the Ames area. You can find the show on podcast platforms; I also share the audio files and recaps of every episode on my Substack newsletter.)
5 Comments
Laura could have spent $15 elsewhere
Most of the board and council members have past or active ties with a university receiving undisclosed millions of dollars from John Deere, poultry producers, and other ag companies. Expecting ”thorough and balanced coverage of Iowa agriculture” by this media with the bland name of Mid Iowa News, is like relying on Philip Morris Rwanda for health information on smoking.
Those interested in Mid Iowa News may lookup articles and opinions by Chantal de Macedo Eulenstein. Her very young eyes are wide open on social and education issues Her articles are well sourced and well documented. A rising star in an otherwise pretty grey and low sky. Happy 25.
Karl M Tue 31 Dec 6:51 AM
I have friends in Ames who consider the AMES TRIBUNE...
…to be a ghost newspaper. They say it has become mostly a Mini-Me of the DES MOINES REGISTER. So they will welcome having a new option. I plan to check out the Ames Voice myself.
Per Karl M’s comment, I am especially interested in coverage of the huge impact of Iowa agriculture on the environment. For good reporting on that, I have to actively look for sources where it can be found. Whether the Ames Voice will turn out to be a good source, I don’t know. But I doubt if it will be worse than the TRIBUNE.
PrairieFan Tue 31 Dec 1:44 PM
Adjacency is not complicity
“Having ties” to Iowa State University in the sense that the university pays (or paid) the salaries of some News Council board members hardly disqualifies them from their service. Many, many, many faculty and staff have deep reservations — if not outright disgust — at the funding distortions of the University’s mission by the likes of Deere, Corteva, Bayer, Iowa Select, and all the rest. If Wendy Wintersteen was on the board, I would be hesitant. Great news for Ames and Iowa in general. Glad that Doug Burns has a voice in founding this endeavor and that experienced journalists and writers are available to staff it. Maybe living in Iowa should disqualify readers from making such absurd observations? After all, these and other corporate ag corporations pay some taxes in the state, which should taint everyone who lives here?
John Morrissey Tue 31 Dec 2:29 PM
I really hope that the "thorough and balanced coverage of Iowa agriculture" will happen.
A classic example of the kind of agriculture story that Iowa needs (and rarely gets) is a December 29th story in the CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE with the headline, “Iowa invests in industry-favored farm pollution fix that doesn’t fix much.”
A lot of tax dollars, including money from a number of Iowa counties and municipalities, are helping to pay for that questionable fix. A lot of hot-air PR claims have been made by ag industry groups about how effective and wonderful the fix is. And, as the story indicates, many Iowans who know better are under serious pressure to keep their mouths shut.
PrairieFan Wed 1 Jan 11:05 PM
The Gazette does independent journalism
The story pointed out by PrairieFan is typical of all the conflicts of loyalty and interests that prevents Iowa agriculture to be sustainable. The story is about our tax dollars wasted in a bad and poorly implemented buffering solution to “fix” water pollution by farmers using too much nitrates. It involves Iowa State University, where the questionable technology was invented, the State governments that writes implementation standards so low that the technology is effectively useless, a private Iowa drainage company, and a real journalist working for an independent media, Below is one excerpt that shows how difficult it is to speak out.
(Beginning of excerpt) “This is such a huge rip-off of public money,” retired University of Iowa researcher Chris Jones said. Jones, a critic of the Batch and Build program [the State sponsored effort implementing the nitrate buffers], called the findings “scandalous.”
Jones is one of few who spoke out publicly against the state’s efforts.
Many researchers and local officials who spoke with APM Reports refused to openly criticize Batch and Build, or to discuss fertilizer regulation. One scientist whose research is publicly funded said the Iowa Farm Bureau and IDALS “discourage monitoring” water quality. He then asked for anonymity, citing fears that the Farm Bureau and state officials would try to defund his research.
Polk County, Iowa, administrator John Norris said he’s not surprised people didn’t speak candidly about these topics. (End of excerpt)
In short, the Nitrate buffering technology is a bit like the cigarette filter advertised by Philip Morris. Maybe it works in the lab, but if you keep smoking you are still at a high risk of cancer.
Karl M Thu 2 Jan 6:41 AM