Statement on Local Media from Davis Media Access
By Autumn Labbé-Renault, Executive Director
May 9, 2024
As the Davis Enterprise continues to recede, something has to evolve as a source of community information and news. We think Davis Media Access (DMA) can offer part of the solution.
With journalistic expertise at staff, board and volunteer levels, we’ve been talking internally about Davis’ growing news drought at DMA for months before the Enterprise made its latest cut — the stunning layoff of Bob Dunning, who wrote a column and sports stories for the paper for 55 years.
(You might have noticed another new hole at the Enterprise, by the way — Bruce Gallaudet hasn’t had a story in the paper since April 28, when he wrote “goodbye, all!” at the end of his story that Sunday. This is a big loss for covering local sports.)
Since last fall, DMA has been developing an idea for a Civic Information Hub—not to supplant local news, but to fill in the gaps in our local information ecosystem. I’ve met with dozens of journalists, elected officials, librarians, educators and other community leaders towards that end. You can listen to a very early discussion about the idea on the KDRT program Davisville, although I want to emphasize the word “early.”