Lost Storytellers

Community journalism in the era of clickbaitAn incisive and firsthandlook at the landscape of community news today, Lost Storytellers argues that the decline of local journalismthreatens the future of democracy. Award-winning photojournalist JohnPendygraft asks: How did Americans lose trust in the media, and how can theirlocal newsrooms earn it back?Pendygraft uses his own experiences at Floridas largestnewspaper, the Tampa Bay Times, toillustrate why trusted local reporting matters more than ever in the era offake news, clickbait, conspiracy theories, and social media. Throughinterviews with his colleagues, the history of his own paper, journeys into theevolutionary psychology of storytelling, and examples of the waysmultinational media conglomerates hook readers on news cycles of chaos andcrisis, Pendygraft argues that community journalists can reclaim their roles aslocal storytellersand that the public good demands that they try. Lost Storytellers offers insights forall who feel confused about the media, politics, and the well-being of theircommunities in the information age.