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Today is Local News Day

by | Apr 9, 2026

Rappahannock News and Foothills Forum staffers Mary Ann Kuhn, Ireland Hayes, Julia Shanahan and Tim Carrington collaborate on a video series about this year’s county budget. (Photo/Luke Christopher)

 

News deserts are spreading. Thanks to your support, Rappahannock is bucking the trend

 

Back in the spring of 2022, the Rappahannock News published a story about a critical shortage of volunteer drivers to take county senior citizens to medical appointments. It began:

“Imagine: You’re in your mid-70s living alone and recovering from major surgery. Six weeks of physical therapy is required to get back on your feet. You don’t have access to a vehicle or are physically unable to drive. Your family is no longer in the area. Help from friends to get you to appointments isn’t always possible. What now?

“This scenario is a reality for many in rural Rappahannock County, especially the elderly.”

Within days, about a half dozen Rappahannock citizens volunteered to help. They wouldn’t have been motivated to step forward had they not read the story by Bob Hurley, a reporter for Foothills Forum, the newspaper’s nonprofit news partner. 

I often cite this as a prime example of how Rappahannock County is a better place to live because its citizens are well informed about their community. 

Today (April 9) is the inaugural national Local News Day, created by a coalition of journalists, nonprofit and media leaders, to highlight the critical role of fact-based local news across America.  

If you want to know what’s happening in the nation’s capital or around the globe, there’s no shortage of news sources. But if you want to know what’s happening in your own backyard, you need reporting that is laser focused on news you can’t get elsewhere. 

Foothills Forum reporter Bob Hurley on assignment at Chancellors Rock Farm in Flint Hill. (Photo/Luke Christopher)

The Rappahannock News and Foothills Forum work together to explain how your local taxes are being spent. We report on the quality of our local schools and whether our county’s fire and rescue units can survive and thrive. We tell you who’s been arrested, how our school sports teams fared and the status of bringing high speed broadband to the county. 

We reveal local privacy concerns about law enforcement surveillance cameras, track cost estimates for a new county courthouse and write about the impacts of nearby data centers. We cover the local arts scene, challenges faced by area farmers and threats to our environment. And we showcase those ordinary citizens who make extraordinary contributions to our community.

It’s well known that local newspapers face financial challenges, due largely to a shift in advertising revenue to giant digital platforms. A growing number have shut down.

Foothills Forum and the Rappahannock News are bucking this trend. Our unique “hybrid” partnership has dramatically expanded local news coverage. It’s also earned recognition: For five consecutive years, the Virginia Press Association has named the Rappahannock News the best newspaper of its size in the commonwealth.

Accolades are nice. But more heartening is the way local news strengthens our community. It provides a foundation of reliable information — fact-based, fair and nonpartisan — so essential to our daily lives.

 

 

Author

  • Andy Alexander

    Andy is the former Washington Post ombudsman and is an award-winning journalist and news industry leader who has been a reporter, editor and Washington bureau chief during a career that spans five decades. He was a longtime board member of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which helps foreign journalists who have been subjected to attacks, arrests and harassment by repressive regimes. After his time in newsrooms, Andy was a Visiting Professional at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University, his alma mater, where he taught journalism ethics and helped foster media innovation and entrepreneurship. Andy serves as a volunteer editor of Foothills Forum articles and meets every other week with the nonprofit’s journalism committee, comprised of Foothills journalists and the Rappahannock News team, to consult on reporting projects. He is married to Beverly Jones, an attorney, consultant and author.

    Reach Andy at [email protected]
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By Andy Alexander

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Andy is the former Washington Post ombudsman and is an award-winning journalist and news industry leader who has been a reporter, editor and Washington bureau chief during a career that spans five decades. He was a longtime board member of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which helps foreign journalists who have been subjected to attacks, arrests and harassment by repressive regimes. After his time in newsrooms, Andy was a Visiting Professional at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University, his alma mater, where he taught journalism ethics and helped foster media innovation and entrepreneurship. Andy serves as a volunteer editor of Foothills Forum articles and meets every other week with the nonprofit’s journalism committee, comprised of Foothills journalists and the Rappahannock News team, to consult on reporting projects. He is married to Beverly Jones, an attorney, consultant and author. Reach Andy at [email protected]