As recently as the 1980s, locally owned newspapers were published in most cities and towns. Then consolidation began as big fish swallowed the minnows and continued as sharks swallowed the big fish. And with the drastic changes to the eco-system triggered by Facebook and company, even the sharks became nervous.
Storm Lake is a documentary about a small town bi-weekly as it continues to swim against the tide. The Storm Lake Times covers local events and profiles residents of Storm Lake, Iowa, but also tackles issues of national concern. Because it’s Iowa, game-opening site of the presidential primary caucus, the nation sometimes notices. In 2017, the Storm Lake Times earned a Pulitzer for its reporting on the machinations of agro-business.
Directors Jerry Risius and Beth Levison spend time with staffers as they go about their beats, yet the focus is on the man whose dedication to old-fashioned journalism keeps the paper afloat. Editor Art Cullen did time in soulless corporate media before coming home to Storm Lake. At the time of his birth (1958), he recalls, the townies included one Black, one Jew and innumerable Republicans. Unlike the surrounding countryside, which remains resolutely white, Storm Lake has attracted immigrants—largely because it’s home to a Tyson plant, an ethanoyl distillery and other agro-factories. As Storm Lake shifted from red to blue, ICE began conducting raids. If not for Cullen’s paper, the deportations would have gone unreported.
The growing power of corporate agro-industry has not only plowed under many family farms but put local agricultural businesses out of business. Loss of hometown enterprises along with the Facebook-Amazon-Google juggernaut has devastated Cullen’s business model. He complains that too many people are content to glance at their phones for headlines rather than spend the time to consider the meaning of the changes happening all around us.
Cullen has resorted to publishing impassioned appeals to his readers for support. Storm Lake is an endearing documentary that catches the newsroom vibe and understands the profession’s larger purpose of holding private and public interests accountable for their actions. Democracy will be difficult to maintain if news media diversity (not the same thing as blowhards with blogs) continues to diminish.
Storm Lake will be available for screening during the AFI Docs Film Festival, June 22-27. For more information, visit afi.com.
