Newspapers see arts as community builders

Within Missouri’s rural communities, the idea of the arts strays from coverage of museums and galleries. In towns with populations of less than 5,000, arts scenes can look like grassroots folk groups, local community theater and children’s fashion shows. The arts act not only as a creative outlet for residents, but also a strong source of connection between community members. 

Interviews with 12 editors and publishers of weekly newsrooms in rural Missouri show they’re doing more than just traditional reporting by covering arts events like festivals and plays. These newsrooms also create culture by participating in events, promoting local art and even hosting events using the influence of their local newspaper.

Here’s why covering the arts is important to these editors and publishers. It:

• Reflects and represents the community
• Supports the local economy through promoting tourism
• Rebuilds trust between the newspaper and the community
• Provides editors who are also artists opportunities to create art through the newspaper (photography, etc.)

At the Morgan County Statesman in Versailles, Missouri, publisher Bryan Jones uses arts coverage to connect with his community. When covering a middle school fashion show, one article of clothing drew his attention: a dress made out of newspapers.

The Statesman asked to keep the dress.

“Now, we’ve got the newspaper dress on a mannequin in our hallway,” Jones said. “People walk in, and it’s a point of conversation, but it’s also a tie between the newspaper and the community.” 

Jones also contributed to local arts events financially, sponsoring local theater productions in the community including a performance of “Newsies.” Due to the musical’s newspaper themes, Jones said it made sense for the Statesman to be involved in the production. He contributed by creating a unique playbill. 

“Instead of a regular playbill, we published the playbill as a newspaper that we gave out to people,” said Jones. “They actually use that newspaper in the play. It was a full-size newspaper, and it was a really good way to connect with the community and newspapering in general because the whole play was about newspapers.”

Rural weekly newspapers also take on the role of community cheerleader, uplifting their regions in ways that boost tourism and community involvement. At The Concordian in Lafayette County, editor Kathy Dohrman said she sees her town’s goal of becoming the “patriotic mural town of Missouri” as a great way of fostering civic pride and drawing in tourists through art. 

The murals “are really pretty, and it’s really nice, because it does bring people through,” Dohrman said. “They can look around at the murals, and then move on. That’s what the goal is — to just have more people come through town and maybe eat lunch, stop at the gas station, spend some money in town.” 

While a majority of the editors and publishers interviewed in the study said they prioritized the coverage of arts, culture and entertainment, those who were artists themselves had a special proclivity for covering their local arts scenes. Dohrman, who is a photographer, said she gamified the experience of covering the arts through creating a scavenger hunt for her readers. By taking close-up shots of different landmarks around town and printing them in the newspaper, Dohrman sent her community members on a hunt to find the location of the images. Whoever got the most correct won a prize. 

“That is the best way to get people involved and get them to look at things in a different way,” Dohrman said. “My impact on them, I hope, is to open their eyes and see the beauty.” 

While the coverage of the arts in communities has helped connect community members with their newspaper, it’s also provided editors and publishers a sense that what they are doing matters. During the winter, Dohrman said she creates photo packages of winter scenes and publishes them in the paper for people to enjoy. She said the responses she receives makes all her hard work worthwhile. 

“I get a lot of comments of, ‘Oh, they were beautiful,’” Dohrman said. “They actually look and enjoy the art, and that makes me feel good. Some days you wonder: ‘Do they even look at the paper? Am I doing this for nothing?’ But then somebody will say something, and that makes it all better.”

Cayli Yanagida graduated in May with a master’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism. This research was part of her thesis. She now lives and works as a freelance journalist in Springfield, Missouri.

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Cite this article

Yanagida, Cayli (2026, June 16). How rural weeklies in Missouri are covering arts and culture. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/how-rural-weeklies-in-missouri-are-covering-arts-and-culture/