How Iowa’s Gazette Is Working to Make Deep-Dive Local Journalism Sustainable

By: Tom Grubisich | Street Fight

Six and a half years ago Cedar Rapids was devastated by the fourth-worst public disaster in U.S. history. Raging flood waters from the Mississippi River destroyed 10 square miles of the center city, including 5,000 homes, 1000 businesses, key infrastructure and numerous cultural amenities. The local newspaper, The Gazette, helped the city to come back with an outpouring of journalism that was in the grand tradition of its 130-year history as the diligent paper of record of Grand Rapids and Eastern Iowa.