Sunday, July 12, 2020

Coronavirus in rural America (Part LXXII): More on rural media

This story is out of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, population 22,377, where Dan Barry of the New York Times features the last journalist standing, Evan Brandt, with The Mercury.  The lede incorporates the substance of the story that last journalist is covering:  food distribution to needy children at a school.
An essential worker drove his cluttered Toyota Corolla through the early spring emptiness, past a sign outside a closed parochial school asking people to pray. Time to bear witness in a pandemic. 
He pulled up to the closed Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School, where masked employees were distributing bags and boxes of food. Dozens of cars waited in line for curbside pickup, many with children eager to spot their teachers. 
In the global context of the coronavirus, the moment was small. But to those who live around a Pennsylvania place called Pottstown, the scene reflected both the dependence on subsidized school meals and the yearning to connect in an unsettling time of isolation. It was a story.
Pottstown is just about 40 miles from Philadelphia, so hardly rural, unless of the exurban variety.  As usual, Dan Barry files a compelling story well worth a read in its entirety.  Don't miss other stories in this series about coronavirus consequences for rural (and not-so-rural) media outlets. 

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