The Shredding of Midwestern Newspapers

An analysis...

My friend Jon K. Lauck has just released a sobering, data-rich assessment of the current state of newspapers in the Midwest that has been published in the most recent issue of the Middle West Review, where he is Editor in Chief.

Jon grew up in South Dakota and earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Iowa and his law degree from the University of Minnesota. He is interested in the history, culture, economics, and politics of the American Midwest and in American and European history more generally. Lauck has worked as a lawyer, professor, and political advisor and now serves as an adjunct professor of history and political science at the University of South Dakota. Jon also serves as Counsel and Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator John Thune (R) of South Dakota.

Jon’s latest book, “The Good Country,” was reviewed in the Washington Post in December. I’m halfway through it and already have a much more nuanced perspective on the Midwest and who we are. And, surprisingly, who I am.

The article will be "open" or free for viewing/downloading for a few weeks at the links below. Jon asks that we please share it with interested parties and retweet the Middle West Review Twitter account post noting that the article is now open/free.

Please share widely. Let’s gobble it up and see what we can learn.

Here is the pdf, and here is a web link. I would suggest you download the pdf—it won’t go away.

While Jon’s article lays out the tragedy of the demise of our beloved newspapers, he also offers hope for the future. One of the positive developments he offers is our own Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. 

Please share what you think of what Jon has to say.

This is an amazing piece of scholarship--but let’s not let it be the epitaph of newspapers in the American Midwest.

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Please take a look at the work of other Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists—they are doing amazing things. If you can afford it, please become a paid subscriber to their work. Here we are in alphabetical order:

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla

Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politic Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Iowa

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

To receive a weekly roundup of all Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, sign up here (free): ROUNDUP COLUMN

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