KPCW has a new daily morning newsletter called The Local. It contains the top stories from Summit and Wasatch counties, as well as other news from across Utah and the Intermountain West.
KPCW General Manager Renai Bodley Miller said the station decided to take this next step in delivering local news because the staff believes a robust local news service connects communities and makes them stronger. "There have been so many studies that show the more informed a community is, the more connected they are," she said. "And that means they are less divided politically. And good information, by good I mean factual, objective information, is the ultimate uniter.”
KPCW is a nonprofit, public radio station. Miller said another reason the KPCW staff wanted to offer a daily digital newsletter to Summit and Wasatch counties is because other, more traditional forms of journalism are dwindling. She quoted a recent study from Northwestern University that found more than 360 newspapers in the United States have gone out of business in the last two years. And a quarter of all newspapers in America have closed since 2005.
"The new investments you see in local journalism are mainly focused on the larger markets because they are for-profit and that’s where you make the most money. And that amplifies the disparity between those who have access to high-quality local news and those who don’t," said Miller.
The Local will not have the typical advertising other for-profit newsletters contain. Miller said the idea is to stick with what she calls “the tone” of public radio, which, per the rules of the Federal Communications Commission, can not broadcast the kind of advertising heard on commercial radio.
The Local delivery begins Tuesday, July 5th. It’s free. To receive KPCW’s new daily newsletter, go to kpcw.org to sign up.