Loving Local News

Photo: John Strauss

I worked on the national desk for AP in New York City and helped direct statewide news gathering in Indiana and Tennessee, but some of the most fun I ever had was covering local news as a City Hall reporter for The Indianapolis Star.

On vacation this week, here are some story ideas I would have in Indy:

Winter Streets - The challenges for Indy's unhoused population go up exponentially during the bitter cold of deep winter. Are we any better prepared this year after all the discussions about how to help people? Along with the data from city agencies and advocates for the unhoused, the story would benefit from reporting inside shelters and out on the street with people trying to help.

Compassionate Response - After several high-profile incidents in which emotionally distraught people died during contact with officers, the city sought a way to assist those people in a way that avoids escalated, violent confrontations. The Mobile Crisis Assistance Team (MCAT) is a collaboration between IMPD, Emergency Medical Services and Midtown Community Mental Health to help people in crisis. Spending time with an MCAT team could add vivid color and understanding about how this is all working out.

IndyGo's Future - Public transit agencies across the country suffered major ridership losses during the pandemic. It's worth examining the health of IndyGo, which received a major tax-funding boost in 2016 and has spent more than half a billion dollars on the Red, Blue and Purple Line bus-rapid transit projects. Key to a transit system's health are the "choice riders"--those who could use their cars or other alternatives but choose the bus. What do they think about the service, and what do rider surveys show? This project could use ridership reports and other public records from IndyGo, with reporting from onboard buses and with public transit advocates.

Substitute Teachers - Indiana, like most of the country, is experiencing a major shortage of teachers. That creates a big demand for substitute teachers, but the concern among some in education is that reliance on substitutes puts students at a disadvantage, and a shortage of qualified substitutes impacts some districts and schools especially hard. I have an Indiana teaching license and have spent time as a substitute to learn about this situation. We can work with some of the districts to give us classroom access for a story.

Red-Light Cameras - Indy's police chief recently suggested deploying cameras to catch speeders and stoplight violators. There's a story to be told about how this has worked elsewhere--and why it's being suggested here. Indy has a big problem with pedestrian safety, and if we looked at the data, we would find the top hotspots where the police think these cameras could make a difference--and what the people in those areas want.

Police Story - Indianapolis is critically short of police officers, despite an intensive recruitment campaign that even includes messages on every police car--and an increase in the starting salary to $72,000. The department acknowledges that it suffers from an image problem, but another factor remains the nature of the job itself: increasingly under scrutiny, under appreciated and of course, understaffed. People curious about what the job is like can sign up online to ride along with an officer, which I did recently. This can yield excellent interview material, natural sound--and insights about what attracts people to this work, but also why the job is so hard to fill.

This isn't a criticism of our local newsrooms, which are doing the best they can in an economically challenging environment. Just some thoughts about enterprise stories in my hometown.