Covering and Guiding Economic Development
For decades, rural areas had three great advantages in recruiting and retaining jobs: Low taxes, low land costs and low wages. The first two are not as big as they were, and the third one has largely been eliminated by economic globalization, so many rural communities are suffering economically. The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues believes that newspapers should not only help their readers understand these issues, but look for proper opportunities to guide the economic future of their communities. That future includes the future of newspapers, so this is an area where good journalism can also be good business. But it can also present special challenges. Al Cross, director of the Institute, will talk about how to turn such challenges into opportunities.
Cross is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, which seeks to help rural media define the public agenda in their communities and report on regional issues. He is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at UK, in the Extension Title series, and says his short job description is “extension agent for rural journalists.”
He was the elected national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s oldest, broadest and largest journalism organization, from October 2001 to September 2002, after holding several other leadership positions in SPJ. He is a member of the Ethics Committee and a director of SPJ’s Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.
Cross became the Institute’s first staff member in August 2004, after more than 26 years as a reporter at The Courier-Journal, the last 15½ as chief political writer. He still writes a twice-monthly column for the Louisville paper. His awards include a share of the Pulitzer Prize won by The C-J staff in 1989 for coverage of the nation’s deadliest bus crash.
Cross was born in Knoxville, Tenn., and grew up in Albany, Ky.
Attend Al Cross’ session over continental breakfast the morning of Saturday, June 28 at 8 a.m.