A derecho tore through parts of the Midwest, including Iowa and Illinois, on Monday, August 10. The powerful storm system caused extensive damage, left thousands of people without power, and flattened farm fields. Yet the national media was slow to pick up the story amd it still has not received a great deal of national attention.
The Shop Talk panelists believe a similar storm on one of the coasts would have received much more coverage. They said the national media has focused much of its attention during the past week on the pandemic and politics. Those are also important stories, but the panelists wonder why the media has largely overlooked a storm that was akin to an inland hurricane.
Shop Talk is a weekly panel discussion about journalism issues. This week’s program featured Will Buss, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University and advises the student editors at the Western Courier, the students at student radio station The Dog, and the WIU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists; Rajvee Subramanian, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University; and TSPR News Director Rich Egger.
