Self-driving cars in Southeast Ohio. A farmer in Hillsboro who practices climate-resistant practices to improve his soil. A pet food pantry in Wooster. All stories that can be heard on public media radio stations across the state.
The Ohio Newsroom (TON), Ohio’s largest daily statewide radio and digital news service, began as a concept in 2019 and launched in 2022. It is a formal collaboration that is now changing — and improving — the model for local journalism.
Four anchor stations — Ideastream Public Media (Cleveland/Akron/Canton), WOSU Public Media (Columbus), Cincinnati Public Radio and WYSO (Yellow Springs) — “put the oomph into this effort,” according to Dan Shellenbarger, general manager, Ohio Public Media Services. His umbrella organization includes The Ohio Newsroom, The Ohio Channel and The Statehouse News Bureau.
“We knew that The Ohio Newsroom could only exist if it had total, complete, statewide participation,” says Shellenbarger, noting it was initiated by Ideastream, the George Gund Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Ohio.
Today, The Ohio Newsroom also includes WGTE (Toledo), WCSU (Wilberforce), WYSU (Youngstown) and WOUB Public Media (Athens), which joined in July 2024. Eighty-four statewide journalists serve Ohio’s public media stations.
But the cooperation is far more than just a friendly partnership. As the number of local media outlets continues to decline statewide and nationally, the need for local news coverage and the ability to share that information beyond limited borders has become vital. Too many areas in Ohio are news deserts, leaving people in those geographical confines without important information. The Ohio Newsroom stepped in to help fill those gaps.
“Creating The Ohio Newsroom was an incredible step forward by combining all the power of the different public media radio stations and saying we are stronger together,” says Clare Roth, The Ohio Newsroom managing editor. “Not only are we improving the journalism of every station that already existed, but we are taking you to places that normally would not have been covered because of the decline of local media.”
Roth appreciates comments from some rural listeners who rarely heard news about their own communities until now. She hopes The Ohio Newsroom will soon stretch into all 88 Ohio counties. She also says the collaboration of stations is “the first step” of many journalistic innovations 10, 20, 30 years ahead.”
“We do hard news, of course, but also a number of good news things, plus examine solutions to concerns and stories about interesting people and places to visit,” adds Shellenbarger. “The kind of journalism we do is connective journalism. We want to bring people together, neighbor to neighbor, with topics that have human interest, that bring out the humanity of people. We want to tell those stories. What happens in Wapakoneta could interest and influence someone in Marietta.”
Shellenbarger says that today’s responsible journalism should not just reflect the “if-it-bleeds-it-leads” practice. Nor should journalism “just point to people in power, but be about those who are affected by that power.”
“We need that balance,” he says.
The Ohio Newsroom is in an excellent position to examine stories from that perspective and share the results with everyone in the state who listens to public radio, he says.
“This is an incredibly challenging time in journalism. But I have hope that means we get to reinvent ourselves and be even more relevant to the people we serve,” says Shellenbarger. “I am an optimist. We want to grow and add more specialized journalists, such as data journalists. Our whole challenge is how we keep people invested and interested in news and information.
“I love Ohio. We are a hardy sort of people. We are trying to recover in many ways, and it speaks to our tenacity that people here have so many stories to tell,” he says. “The Ohio Newsroom has the opportunity to showcase their voices.”
