Indy Editors to Appear on WHMP’s Panorama

Amherst Indy editors Art Keene and Kitty Axelson-Berry were interviewed by WHMP’s Sarah Robertson and  Dan Torres on January 5, for the podcast “Panorama”. Their interview will air on Saturday, January 13, at 7 a.m. on WHMP (101.5 FM, 1400 AM), and the podcast will be available on the website shortly thereafter.

The conversation explored the history of the Indy, soon to celebrate its fifth anniversary, and the role that independent local media plays in sustaining democracy. Keene and Axelson-Berry discussed the challenges of operating and sustaining an all-volunteer news organization and highlighted some of the stories reported by the Indy that might not otherwise have seen the light of day or might not have received robust coverage without the Indy’s reporting. They discussed the indy’s progressive mission and its aim to help promote civic literacy and civic participation in Amherst and to provide a forum where the full range of constituencies in Amherst, including its most vulnerable residents, can be heard. They shared the concern of the hosts about how local news institutions are dying, and how this poses a very real threat to democracy. But they discussed how the Indy is part of a larger movement of independent newsmakers, celebrating that Amherst and its surrounding communities are an exception to the national trend in that they still benefit from the existence of multiple local news sources.