Welcome to this episode of What's Happening Salem!

In this episode, Jacob Espinoza sits down with Rachel Alexander from Salem Reporter to discuss the state of local news and pressing issues facing our community:

Topics covered:

• Salem-Keizer schools' first positive test score improvements since COVID
• The reality of downtown Salem vs. public perception
• How local journalism operates with limited resources
• Upcoming city elections and coverage plans
• The challenge of covering national issues with a local angle
• Brainstorming ways to better serve Salem with digestible news content

Timestamps:

00:01 - Introduction and collaboration concept

01:37 - Big news: School test scores show improvement

06:09 - Breaking down the numbers: Third-grade reading levels

08:55 - What's driving the improvement?

12:54 - Downtown Salem: Perception vs. reality

16:42 - Stories not getting enough attention

21:06 - Ethics violations and city government updates

21:09 - Approaching election season coverage

23:27 - The future of local journalism and community storytelling

26:38 - Brainstorming podcast frequency and format

29:02 - The speed of modern news production

Subscribe to Salem Reporter at salemreporter.com and share your feedback on what you'd like to hear covered at jacob@whatshappeningsalem.com!