In this special bonus episode of Life After News, Jason Ball sits down with Emily Barr, longtime media executive and former president of Graham Media Group. With decades of leadership at WLS in Chicago and Graham’s TV stations, Emily has seen firsthand how local journalism has changed and why its survival depends on innovation, collaboration, and nonprofit support. 🤝
Now retired from daily station management but deeply active in the industry, Emily serves on the boards of the Associated Press, the Carol Kneeland Project, and the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting / Maine Monitor (https://themainemonitor.org/). She also writes the column Raising the Barr for TVNewsCheck, where she recently argued that local TV news and nonprofit collaborations are the only way forward. 🗞️
What You’ll Learn in This Episode 🎧
- Why nonprofit journalism is rising across the U.S.—and the funding challenges it faces 💵
- How organizations like the Maine Monitor are filling investigative gaps in small communities 🌎
- The cultural shift required for TV, print, and digital outlets to collaborate instead of compete 🔄
- Why local reporting is vital for democracy and civic accountability 🗳️
- Emily’s candid take on the business pressures facing local TV, from declining ad revenue to network demands 📉
- Insights into WPLG’s bold move to drop its ABC affiliation—and what it means for the future of independent stations 📺
Key Quotes ✍️
- “We’re way past the point of competition—if we want to tell important stories, we need to lift each other up.” – Emily Barr
- “Local journalism is as essential as hospitals and schools—it’s part of the fabric of a community.” – Emily Barr
If you care about the future of local news, media innovation, or the survival of journalism in smaller markets, this conversation is a must-listen. 🚨
👉 If you'd like to learn more about the work Emily supports, visit the Maine Monitor (https://themainemonitor.org/)
Listen now and subscribe to Life After News wherever you get your podcasts. 🎙️ If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review ⭐—it helps others discover the show.
Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.
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