According to the 2023 report on The State of Local News, residents in more than half of U.S. counties have no, or very limited, access to a reliable local news source — either print, digital or broadcast. There are 204 counties without any local news outlet and 1,562 counties served with only one remaining local news source, invariably a weekly newspaper.
The study goes on to note that newspapers are continuing to vanish at an average rate of more than two a week. Its never been more important to support local journalism.
Mi-Ai Parrish, who leads the Arizona State University Media Enterprise and is the Professor for Media Innovation and Leadership at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will focus on six ways supporting local journalism may reduce fine lines and wrinkles during her keynote address on Monday at the Mega-Conference. Parrish also is president and CEO of MAP Strategies Group, based in Phoenix.
She served as president and publisher of The Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com and market president at USA TODAY Network, where the team won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for “The Wall,” a multi-layered, multi-media examination of the southern border with Mexico. Prior to The Arizona Republic/USA Today Network, she held similar leadership roles at the Kansas City Star, and (Boise) Idaho Statesman, and an array of newsroom roles at (Minneapolis) Star-Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, among others. Parrish was the first Korean-American publisher in mainstream media, first BIPOC publisher in Idaho, Kansas City and Phoenix, and first woman publisher in Kansas City. She continues work in diversity and inclusion in media, the weaponization of information, and coverage of justice and equity.
She is the chairwoman of Poynter Institute board of directors, vice-chairwoman of Banner Foundation board of directors, secretary of Greater Phoenix Leadership, and serves on the boards of The Associated Press, Common Sense Media, the O'Connor Institute for American Democracy, The 19th* News, Arizona Community Foundation, and others. She's served four times as a Pulitzer Prize juror.
She holds a bachelor’s of science in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.
There's still time to register for the Mega-Conference!
