(Art Cullen is the co-owner with his older brother John of The Storm Lake Times, a 3,000-circulation twice-weekly newspaper in Storm Lake, Iowa, pop. 10,000, in rural Northwest Iowa. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing in 2017. )
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“The Storm Lake Times conducted a 20-year campaign to dredge sediment out of our 3,000-acre lake. 700,000 cubic yards of silt were removed. The lake is now clear. This cause was driven by the newspaper.”
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- “Smaller positive actions are taken every week on stories we write — cancer victims trying to raise funds, people sending memorials based on an obituary, people contributing to community causes because we publicize them every edition.“
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- “We [journalists] strive for accuracy above all else. That we get viscerally ill when we see a mistake under our bylines. That we are honest. Our credibility is our only stock-in-trade, and we work harder at accuracy than anything.“
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- “We just had a school bond issue election that required 60 percent voter support. The measure passed with 61 percent support, thanks in large part to newspaper editorials urging its passage and explaining the issue to the public. That is democracy in action.“
(Edited by Maria Vu)
