Many Wyoming newspapers were recognized nationally for the quality of journalism in the state. It’s still true but with fewer papers, today. So lets look at the historical road Wyoming media has taken since then and why it has changed. First and foremost, Wyoming journalism education was robust, taught by seasoned journalists who were dedicated to teaching college students to report issues of interest and concern to the public. Second, there was a certain amount of local pride knowing that the newspaper was owned locally. Third, recognizing the importance of providing information about the Wyoming State legislators’ acitivities, there were numerous reporters from across the state covering the sessions. They were for the most part long-term residents of Wyoming and graduates of community colleges and the University of Wyoming, as well as seasoned journalists, trained in the best of tradition. I knew many of them because I was one who covered the Legislature for community newspapers, including the Medicine Bow Post, owned by David Roberts. Fourth, because newspapers were published in hard copy (digital came later), they were available to be read for free in local libraries. That meant, residents across the state could read their own community newspapers as well as those in other communities. Thus Wyoming newspapers served a very important unifying function in creating a population of informed individiuals. Media literacy depends on the public having access to robust community and statewide news media, where editors and reporters have learned the practice of media professionalism, largely based on factual reporting. honesty and unbiased conduct. Has the digital media which replaced the legacy news media shown the same kind of professionalism? It’s unlikely since anyone can start up a website — trained journalists but mostly untrained — and claim to be presenting news and information. This is the era of disinformation and misinformation. We’ll look at Wyoming’s media desert to find out how media literate our population is.
