Uvalde Leader-News shows strength, compassion and need for community newspapers
The Texas Press Association held its annual conference this weekend in San Marcos. One of the presentations at the seminar was by Craig Garnett, publisher of the Uvalde Leader-News. He has been the publisher in Uvalde for decades. Recently facing the decision to retire, he was unable to do so, because of how much he cares about the community he covers. He couldn’t leave his town in a time of such need.
In a powerfully emotional question and answer session, he spoke about how his team handled the news coverage of the shooting at Robb Elementary School. He explained the decisions they made in the face of such tragedy from the moment the police scanner sounded to the investigation that followed including how they dealt with one of their own reporters losing her daughter in the massacre. Kimberly Rubio was pregnant with her daughter Lexi just after she started working at the Uvalde Leader-News a decade ago. The loss of life of every child is unconscionable, but word of Lexi’s death was devastating to the news team that watched her grow up.
Beyond the tragedy, Garnett also spoke of the impact of the national news descending on his town. Much of the discussion reminded me of similar instances the night of the 2015 flood and the coverage in the weeks to follow. I sat in the fire station that night reporting live online what I could at 3 a.m. with my mother, whose home had just washed away, sleeping in my car outside. I didn’t realize quite how national the news coverage would be until a few days later I was getting shooed to the side by NBC’s Lester Holt for an interview with Governor Greg Abbott.
“In the middle of it, I was thinking about the other news outlets being able to beat us in every way,” Garnett told Rachel Monroe of The New Yorker. “They have resources. They don’t mind asking the hard questions, even if it offends you, and we did. Community journalism is a different animal.” But the Uvalde Leader-News had other things they could provide: “Context. A source of understanding, and hand-holding, and healing.”
It is a strange feeling being in local news when the national reporters show up, but as the impact of the tragedy wanes in the nation’s eyes there are still stories to tell. There is still a community left behind to grieve, rebuild and rebound.
As with all Texans, Garnett wants to get to the bottom of what really happened with the law enforcement response to the school shooting in Uvalde. Some in the community – and some of those national news outlets – want answers now, but in his discussion, he didn’t seem as concerned with the immediacy.
Garnett wasn’t worried with how long it would take to find the truth, because, while the national news would move on to the next story in a few days or weeks, the Uvalde Leader-News would still be on the ground reporting and finding the facts — just like they have for the last 142 years. They will not move on to the next story. They will be there with their community finding the truth, however long it takes.
It’s just a reminder of how important local newspapers are. Whether in the face of tragedy or the everyday rhythm of the news beat, local newspapers are here to cover our community. We care. We’ve been here for decades, and just like Garnett, we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.