I’ve written on a variety of occasions how much local news matters – news from a local newspaper, television station, radio station; the importance of broadcasters having a local physical presence along with local ownership if at all possible.
We get lots of talk (criticism) of “the media” where people really mean the big national news outlets. But oftentimes the news we really need comes from the hardworking, low-paid local reporters, photographers and editors who work round the clock.
That was certainly the case this week in my home of Kearney, Nebraska, where we go nine inches of rain overnight (NINE INCHES!) Monday and early Tuesday. The flooding closed the main Interstate 80 interchange into town as well as hitting hard a major hotel district, commercial area, and residential areas.
At a time like this, locals and visitors alike needed to know how far the water was going to rise, where could they get food and shelter, and when could they expect for this disaster to be over.
Here’s just a sampling of some of the great news coverage we got from local media:
Kearney Hub: Yanney Park, part of Second Avenue
closed due to flooding in Kearney
The City of Kearney closed Yanney Park Tuesday because of flooding. The lake in the park has overflowed, as can be seen from Yanney Tower. Photo by Erika Pritchard, Kearney Hub
Good story with a great photo taken from the park’s observation tower.
Kearney Hub: Flooding puts 400-500 hotel rooms
out of commission in Kearney
Water nearly covered some of the vehicles in the parking lot at Kearney’s Holiday Inn Tuesday. The photo was taken by a drone hovering over the Nebraska Public Power District’s substation in south Kearney, which was de-energized during Tuesday’s flooding.
This story, by my friend Mike Konz, gets had the lasting business impact this flood may have on Kearney.
NTV (Local ABC affiliate): American Red Cross
helps those in need in Lexington
(I particularly liked this story because it gets out into the local region and talks with people from our immigrant community.)
And finally, Kearney is fortunate to have a regionally owned radio station that has local talk shows and news along with their nationally syndicated programming.
Radio KGFW: July 9, 2019 Flood Update:
Kearney & Wood River
