As trust in the media continues to decrease across the United States, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication hosted an event with the goal of both teaching the next generation of journalists the value of local news.

Katie Wilcox, a professor at the school and former investigative journalist, used her experiences as a journalist to show those in attendance why local news is important to so many people, and how it is crucial to helping restore public trust in the media.

“It’s not about necessarily feeling one way or the other,” Wilcox said. “With a lot of these issues, you can keep politics out of it by showing the stories that are actually happening in your community.”

Wilcox discussed a variety of topics, and showed those in attendance how they could write a story out of the topics presented.

Wilcox introduced students to the concept of data centers, since most of the cities journalists cover “are going to have an open data portal.”

Data centers are often used by journalists to find information on events or statistics related to a specific area they are covering. Wilcox taught students how to search information related to public service numbers such as 911 and 311, and use the information they find to help them write a story.

Another one of the topics that Wilcox focused on was politics, and the fact that most people tend to care about the same topics, even though they might support different solutions for them.

This concept was applied to the issue of campaign finance, as Wilcox explained that both Democrats and Republicans want to know who their politicians are getting their money from.

“It’s something that people really care about, because it tells us more about the people making decisions for our country,” Wilcox said.

The upcoming anniversary of the Arizona Diamondbacks World Series victory in 2001 was also discussed. Wilcox pointed out that the anniversary presented many opportunities for a story, such as speaking to fans about what it was like to experience the World Series as it was occurring.

Tatum Dutton Lewis, a sophomore majoring in sports journalism, appreciated the insights Wilcox offered and felt that she became a better writer after attending the speech.

“My biggest takeaway was that you could find a story from not having a story,” Lewis said. “As a sports journalism major, finding nuance is really hard, and this really helped me be able to find nuance in my stories.”

Conor Davis, a student who initially attended the event “to get extra credit for class,” also appreciated Wilcox's insights on local news and felt that he had a much better idea of how to write a story that could appeal to a lot of people.

“You have to search for those solutions and show the stories and the impact they have on your community,” Wilcox said. “When you’re in the local community, you feel like you’re part of it and you should be part of it - that will help build trust.”