The latest cuts to the Lexington Herald-Leader newsroom are heartbreaking. For the talented journalists who lost their jobs, for their colleagues who remain, and for the community they have worked tirelessly to serve.

 

But this loss extends far beyond one newsroom and, unfortunately, these cuts are not occurring in isolation.

 

Across our community and throughout the media industry, we have watched newsrooms shrink, experienced journalists lose their jobs, positions go unfilled, and remaining reporters, photographers, editors, producers, anchors, and other journalists asked to do more with fewer resources.

 

Each announcement brings its own circumstances and difficult business realities. But taken together, they represent something larger that should concern all of us: the continued erosion of the local journalism infrastructure our communities depend upon.

 

Whether journalism reaches us through a newspaper, television broadcast, radio station, website, or another platform, the fundamental need remains the same. Communities need trained journalists who know the places they cover, build relationships and trust over time, ask difficult questions, provide context, separate fact from rumor, and tell the stories of the people who call those communities home.

 

Strong local journalism is essential to a strong community. Local journalists hold institutions and elected officials accountable. They ask questions on behalf of people who may never have the opportunity to ask them themselves. They attend the public meetings most of us cannot. They investigate wrongdoing, provide critical information during emergencies, celebrate our successes, document our history, and introduce us to neighbors whose stories we otherwise might never know.

 

They tell us not only what happened, but why it matters.

 

As professional communicators, members of the Public Relations Society of America work alongside journalists every day. Our professions have different roles, but we share something fundamental: a belief that credible information, thoughtful storytelling, open communication, and an informed public are essential to healthy communities.

 

That ecosystem becomes weaker every time another local journalist disappears from a newsroom. Fewer reporters mean fewer questions asked. Fewer meetings covered. Fewer stories told. Fewer institutions scrutinized. And fewer opportunities for people to understand the decisions, challenges, accomplishments, and individuals shaping the communities they call home.

 

We recognize the enormous economic pressures facing journalism and the profound changes reshaping the media industry, from consolidation and shrinking newsrooms to evolving business models and the rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence.

 

Technology, including AI, can be an extraordinarily valuable tool when used responsibly. But technology cannot replace the human judgment at the heart of credible journalism: the reporter who asks the follow-up question, the editor who challenges an assumption, the photographer who documents what is happening in our community, or the journalist who has spent years developing the relationships and institutional knowledge necessary to understand not simply what happened, but why it matters.

 

At a time when artificial intelligence can create increasingly convincing text, images, audio, and video, trusted human journalism becomes more important, not less. Verification, transparency, ethical judgment, and accountability are essential to maintaining public trust in the information we consume.

 

We believe there is a point at which continued reductions in local reporting capacity carry a cost that cannot be measured solely on a balance sheet.

 

Local journalism isn't just content. It is community infrastructure, and every time that infrastructure is weakened, our entire community loses something.

 

To the journalists at the Herald-Leader, and throughout our local media community, whose positions have been eliminated in recent months…thank you. Thank you for the late nights and early mornings. The breaking news and severe weather. The public records requests and difficult questions. The elections, ballgames, school board meetings, investigations, celebrations, tragedies, and countless everyday stories that collectively tell the story of our community.

 

And to those who remain in our local newsrooms, often carrying heavier workloads with fewer colleagues beside them – we see you, we value you, and your work matters. It matters to our profession. Strong local journalism is essential to a strong community and a strong democracy.

 

The PRSA Thoroughbred Chapter stands with our colleagues in journalism and remains committed to advocating for a vibrant, independent, ethical, and sustainable local media ecosystem, in Central Kentucky and in communities everywhere.