{"id":2245,"date":"2022-02-08T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/"},"modified":"2025-01-13T20:55:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T20:55:28","slug":"reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
\n
\n \n

It\u2019s no surprise to Tim Sullivan that major news outlets like CNN or his employer, the Associated Press, are taking flak from conservatives for peddling \u201cfake news.\u201d But he was taken aback when a colleague told him that her small hometown newspaper faced relentless criticism from the right wing in the community.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Sullivan, an enterprise reporter based in Minneapolis, had been looking for a way to write about America\u2019s divides. He spotted an opening.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

\u201cWhy would it happen at newspapers that deal mostly with city council meetings and car crashes?\u201d Sullivan said to me. \u201cCalling around to newspaper editors, it became clear this was a major issue for small- and mid-sized papers across the country.\u201d But few editors, fearful of alienating their readers even more, would talk on the record.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Another colleague suggested he seek out Reed Anfinson, the publisher, editor, photographer and reporter for the Swift County Monitor-News in the tiny town of Benson (population 3,000) on the western Minnesota prairie. Anfinson was happy to talk.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

So began weeks of reporting \u2014  not just repeated visits to Benson and long phone calls, but road trips to understand the political tenor in the region. Last month, the AP published Sullivan\u2019s story, \u201cIn one small prairie town, two warring visions of America,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> a 2,400-word portrait of a community caught in a neighbor-to-neighbor conflict, the tensions heightened by Anfinson\u2019s accurate reporting about COVID and its impact on America\u2019s heartland.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Sullivan leads with newspapers thudding on front porches of the \u201cwind-scarred prairie town,\u201d bearing news that coronavirus numbers were spiking in western Minnesota. \u201cCovid-19 cases straining rural clinics, hospitals, staff,\u201d read the front-page headline. \u201cVaccinate to protect yourselves, health officials urged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Anfinson stood by his coverage when he talked to Sullivan for the story: \u201cThere are no alternative facts. There is just the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Anfinson\u2019s  reporting, however, has enraged conservative neighbors. The foil in the story is Jason Wolter, Anfinson\u2019s next door neighbor, a well-read Lutheran pastor who says that he has presided over funerals of residents killed by the COVID vaccine. Anfinson, he says is \u201clying to people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Sullivan’s piece, described as \u201cdeeply affecting, sharply drawn\u201d by Sunday Long Read<\/a> editors, brings to mind similar themes of internecine conflict in \u201cMain Street,\u201d<\/a> a classic dissection of small-town culture by another Minnesotan, Nobel Prize winner Sinclair Lewis.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Choosing a story lens<\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Social media seized on the story, with most commenters focusing on the sadness it evokes about the state of our nation. But more than a few slammed it for not rebutting \u2014 with no equivocation \u2014 the anti-vaccine stance of Wolter and others in Benson.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Asked about the criticism, Sullivan said he and his editors anticipated that response, then agreed to focus the story through a different lens: \u201cThis was a story about how people see the truth, despite what the media reports,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

He portrays a series of encounters with the characters with respect and nuance, everyone from the newspaper publisher who \u201ccasually quotes Voltaire,\u201d the minister who waves across to him across the street despite their deep disagreement, to the area farmer who fumes at the paper.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\"AP
Tim Sullivan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Sullivan spent more than 20 years as an AP foreign correspondent, covering West Africa and then Asia. His assignments ranged from the civil war in Liberia to India\u2019s emergence as an Asian power to North Korea. He was a Nieman Fellow in 2001-2002. Before joining the AP, he was a reporter at the Public Opinion in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and \u201cmade coffee and sorted mail at The New York Times Washington bureau.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Sullivan spoke with Nieman Storyboard about his goal for the story, how he played with different leads, and how his experience as a foreign correspondent dovetails with his new domestic assignment. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

You spent a good portion of your career as a foreign correspondent. How do you approach your job now that you\u2019re back home and working a domestic beat?
<\/strong>I don\u2019t think my approach has changed much. I want to tell stories that make people care about an issue, a place, a person. My first job as a foreign correspondent was reporting across West Africa, covering countries that are often ignored by the wider world. I had to learn to tell stories that would pull in readers who may not have even heard of the country where I was reporting. I often did that by writing about people who might outwardly seem so different but who, if you look deeply enough, are very recognizable: They\u2019re trying to support their family, or are arguing with their spouse, or just trying to do their job. It may sound strange, but in many ways the distance from a Liberian comedian to a North Korean smuggler to a small-town Minnesota newspaper publisher really isn\u2019t that far.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

What was your goal going into the story in Benson?
<\/strong>I wanted to understand how a little newspaper could alienate conservative readers and, on a larger level, explore how America\u2019s divisions play out in a little town where most people know each other, or at least have some sort of connection.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

How much time did you spend on it?
<\/strong>I\u2019m lucky to work for the AP\u2019s Enterprise team, which gives us the freedom to wade into complicated stories. It took me a while just to understand the situation newspapers are facing and to find a paper to focus on. Once I found Benson, which is just three hours from my home, I spent weeks going back and forth to western Minnesota, interspersed with helping out on daily stories and vacation.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

You interviewed<\/strong>Joy Mathis Mayer of <\/strong>Trusting News<\/a> for background on how conservatives view local news. How did she help you as you approached the story?
<\/strong>Joy understands, maybe more than anyone, the magnitude of the problem and what has alienated conservative readers.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

What has been the response to the story that you\u2019ve noticed?
<\/strong>The vast majority of responses were positive, though there was some general criticism from conservatives. Some liberal readers were angered that I described Wolter as thoughtful, and that I described Anfinson\u2019s wife as patriotic.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

There has been some chatter, however, about you repeating, without rebuttal, the statements about vaccinations and COVID, as well as your reference to the minister without mentioning the specific branch of Lutheranism. Did you consider these issues or had discussions about them with your editors?
<\/strong>My editors and I had decided, even before I started the reporting, that I wouldn\u2019t spend a lot of time correcting misinformation, whether about vaccine safety or presidential election results. I\u2019m torn about the Missouri Synod criticism. Maybe I should have added that Wolter is from the Missouri Synod, a more conservative branch of the Lutheran church. But it would have required lots of background to explain, and it was already a long story. It might have been better if I\u2019d simply taken out the word \u201cLutheran.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

What impact did your editors have on the story?
<\/strong>I worked on this story with AP\u2019s Jerry Schwartz, one of the best editors anywhere. Jerry is one of the people I spoke to before the reporting even started, when I was looking for a way to explore America\u2019s divide. Later Jerry helped me structure the story, and he\u2019s a master at line editing without stripping out the writer\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Are there writers or books that you looked to for inspiration as you worked on the story?
<\/strong>I read books by Sean Hannity<\/a> and Mark Levin<\/a> to better understand the conservative perspective. For inspiration, I often turn to Dan Barry<\/a> of The New York Times, who can find the humanity in any story.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Annotation:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Storyboard\u2019s questions are in red; Sullivan\u2019s responses in blue. (EDITOR’S NOTE: AP member publications sometimes edit stories for length. The annotated transcript below is the full, original text.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n
\"Reed
Reed Anfinson, publisher of the weekly Swift County Monitor-News, in his newsroom in Benson, Minnesota. AP Photo\/David Goldman<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

In a small prairie town, two warring visions of America<\/h2>\n\nBy TIM SULLIVAN<\/strong>
\n
\nJanuary 27, 2022
\n
\nBENSON, Minn. (AP) \u2014 The newspaper hit the front porches of the wind-scarred prairie town on a Thursday afternoon: Coronavirus numbers were spiking in the farming communities of western Minnesota.
\n
\n\u201cCovid-19 cases straining rural clinics, hospitals, staff,\u201d read the front-page headline. Vaccinate to protect yourselves, health officials urged.
\n
\nBut ask around Benson, stroll its three-block business district, and some would tell a different story: The Swift County Monitor-News, the tiny newspaper that\u2019s reported the news here since 1886, is not telling the truth. The vaccine is untested, they say, dangerous. And some will go further: People, they\u2019ll tell you, are being killed by COVID-19 vaccinations.
\n
\nOne little town. Three thousand people. Two starkly different realities.
\n
\nIt\u2019s another measure of how, in an America increasingly split by warring visions of itself, division doesn\u2019t just play out on cable television, or in mayhem at the U.S. Capitol. <\/a>What did you know of the political climate in Benson ahead of your arrival?<\/span>I knew the county swung sharply to the right between the 2008 Obama election and the 2016 Trump election. A lot has been written about places where the vote shifted like that, but I was living overseas until the summer of 2019 and wanted to see how it looked up close.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nIt has seeped into the American fabric, all the way to Benson\u2019s 12th Street, where two neighbors — each in his own well-kept, century-old home — can live in different worlds.<\/a>In your opening, you concisely set the scene and the warring climate in this tiny prairie town. Only then do you shift to two characters whose political argument create the story\u2019s human dimension and its tension. Did you consider other leads? Or using the lead as your nut section?<\/span>I played with a series of different leads, including a scene at Wolter\u2019s house, but I liked the image of newspapers hitting front porches. And I liked that it introduces the newspaper, and the issue dividing the two men, before it introduces the men themselves.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nIn one house is Reed Anfinson, publisher, editor, photographer and reporter for the Monitor-News. Most weeks, he writes every story on the paper\u2019s front page. He wrote that story on clinics struggling with COVID-19.
\n
\nHe\u2019s not the most popular man in the county. Lots of people disagree with his politics. He deals with the occasional veiled threat. Sometimes, he grudgingly worries about his safety. <\/a>Given the ominous ending of the story, was this foreshadowing?<\/span>Yes, but I didn\u2019t want to overplay it since Anfinson hasn\u2019t faced violence.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nWhile his editorials lean left, he works hard to report the news straight. But in an America of competing visions, some here say he has taken sides.
\n
\nNowhere in the Monitor-News, for example, will you find reports that local people are dying because they\u2019ve been inoculated.
\n
\n\u201cThere are no alternative facts,\u201d Anfinson says. \u201cThere is just the truth.\u201d
\n
\nBut whose truth? <\/a>Is this you asking?<\/span>Yes. I wanted to lay out bluntly that people can see the truth differently, sometimes despite overwhelming evidence that they\u2019re wrong.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n
\nHis neighbor, Jason Wolter, is a thoughtful, broad-shouldered Lutheran pastor who reads widely and measures his words carefully. <\/a>How did you choose which details to describe Wolter?<\/span>It\u2019s easy to see people who believe the vaccine is dangerous, or that Biden lost the election, as unhinged men in Viking helmets running through the U.S. capital. But Wolter, like many of the people I met, is smart and likable. He\u2019s not a cliche. He\u2019s complicated. I wanted readers to understand that right from the start.<\/span><\/span> He also suspects Democrats are using the coronavirus pandemic as a political tool, doubts President Joe Biden was legitimately elected and is certain that COVID-19 vaccines kill people. <\/a>How did you find Wolter and choose to use him as a foil for Anfinson\u2019s beliefs? Did you consider other figures in Benson before settling on him?<\/span>I stumbled into Wolter. I had arranged to meet a Swift County conservative who brought Wolter with him. I focused on him not just because he lives next door to Anfinson, but because they are both intelligent and likable men who see things so differently. That struck me as deeply poignant.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nHe hasn\u2019t seen the death certificates and hasn\u2019t contacted health authorities, but he\u2019s sure the vaccine deaths occurred: \u201cI just know that I\u2019m doing their funerals.\u201d <\/a>Did he offer specifics?<\/span>Wolter gave plenty of specifics but I didn\u2019t use them. If I went deeply into his explanations of why the vaccine is dangerous, I\u2019d have to include the wealth of scientific evidence that contradicts him. And that wasn\u2019t my goal.<\/span><\/span><\/a>Was it a challenge to write a story that presented a point of view about vaccines that is demonstrably false and not rebut it?<\/span>It wasn\u2019t. So many reporters have done great work on vaccines and their safety. But I wanted to write about how people see the issues. For a story like this, I expected most readers to come into it with a decent grasp of the evidence.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nHe\u2019s also certain that information \u201cwill never make it into the newspaper.\u201d
\n
\nWolter\u2019s frustration boils over during a late breakfast in a town cafe. Seated with a reporter, he starts talking as if Anfinson is there. <\/a>A great action verb choice here! How important are such choices and do they come during the reporting, writing or revision?<\/span>I don\u2019t remember when that word came into the story, but I wanted to convey that he\u2019s a gentle-spoken guy who can get angry. Choosing words is, in many ways, the heart of what we do, and it\u2019s a great feeling when you hit on the right one.<\/span><\/span><\/a>Related: Can you describe your writing process?<\/span>I wish I had one. If I\u2019m on deadline or there\u2019s breaking news I can crank out a story in minutes. But give me a complex story like this one, and reams of reporting, and it\u2019s basically a wrestling match until the story takes shape.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n\u201cYou\u2019re lying to people,\u201d he says. \u201cYou flat-out lie about things.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cIn rural Minnesota we still have a work ethic, and I\u2019ll call them Christian values, and that\u2019s not reflected in our local newspaper,\u201d said Al Saunders, a farmer and friend of Wolter\u2019s who graduated from Benson High School a couple years after Anfinson.
\n
\n\u201cI just can\u2019t stomach it anymore,\u201d said Saunders, whose family settled on part of his sprawling farm more than a century ago, and who speaks almost lovingly about the rich brown soil. Anfinson\u2019s editorials on farm subsidies and politics leave him fuming. \u201cTrash gets thrown at you so many times and eventually you just give up.\u201d <\/a>The story is studded with strong quotes that leave nothing to the imagination. How do you interview to get them?<\/span>I try to treat people with respect, no matter what I think of their views, and I like to think that people can see that.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n
\nHe grudgingly subscribes to the Monitor-News, which has a circulation of roughly 2,000. But just to follow local politics. <\/a>Did you find anyone in town who supports Anfinson? If so, why don\u2019t they appear in the story? It’s easy to read this as if it were Anfinson against everyone else.<\/span>This was one of the toughest decisions I had in writing this piece. Anfinson has supporters, including Republicans, and I had quotes from them in early drafts. But I couldn\u2019t find a way to get them in without slowing down the story or making it too unwieldy. I wish I could have found a way to do it.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nAnfinson does cover Swift County intensely — the city council, the county commissioners, the school board and nearly every other gathering of consequence. He\u2019s there for school concerts, community fund-raisers, elections and livestock judging at the county fair. His white Jeep is often spattered with mud from the county\u2019s dirt roads. <\/a>That\u2019s a nice detail about his mud-splattered Jeep? How did you find out about it?<\/span>I went to the Monitor-News\u2019 offices many times and he parks out front.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>
\n
\nHe works relentlessly. <\/a>You pace your story by alternating short and long sentences. Do you do that consciously?<\/span>No, but there are times when I can hear myself going on too long, and I know it\u2019s time to use a flat, short sentence.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>Wednesday afternoons, after he gets that week\u2019s edition ready for printing the next morning, often count as his weekend.
\n
\nAnfinson is 67 but looks at least a decade younger. A contemplative man who casually quotes Voltaire, he loves newspapers deeply, and mourns the hundreds of small-town papers that have gone under in recent years.
\n
\nStill, Anfinson sometimes is surprised to find himself in Benson.
\n
\nFamily is a powerful force here, and this town is knitted together in ways that few Americans understand anymore. His grandfather, a poetry-loving plumber and child of Norwegian immigrants, came to Benson as a child. His father came home from World War II, became a reporter at the Monitor-News and eventually bought the newspaper with a partner.
\n
\nAnfinson grew up planning on a journalism career somewhere beyond small-town Minnesota. But he found those plans upended when his father\u2019s health began declining in the late 1970s.
\n
\n\u201cI thought I\u2019d come back here just for a little while,\u201d he said. \u201cIt turned into the rest of my life.\u201d
\n
\nNot that he regrets it.
\n
\nHe\u2019s proud that his reporting means something here, whether it\u2019s a high-school student getting an award or an expensive building project the community rejected after he wrote about it.
\n
\nStill, there are times when it\u2019s exhausting. And expensive. With declining circulation and ads, he estimates his three little local newspapers are worth at least $1 million less than a decade ago.
\n
\n\u201cThe easy part is speaking truth to power. The hard part is speaking truth to your community. That can cost you advertisers. That can cost you subscribers,\u201d he said. <\/a>You devote much space to Anfinson. Do you consider him your main character? How much time did you spend with him?<\/span>I\u2019m not sure if I consider him the main character, but because the story centers around newspapers he naturally became very important. I spent hours with Anfinson over a string of visits, and had long phone calls with him. Then there were the relentless fact-checking emails toward the end.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n
\nIt can be easy, looking around Benson, to think it is a land that time forgot. <\/a>What a great line! When did it come to you?<\/span>Benson can feel frozen in time, and I was constantly looking for a way to express that. I had a version of this sentence in my notebook and it eventually came out this way.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nBartenders often greet customers by name. The town\u2019s cafes feel like high school lunchrooms, with people wandering between tables to say hello. Those in search of solitude go to the Burger King, where they sit alone at plastic tables, staring out the windows. <\/a>How did you learn about the Burger King?<\/span>I went to the Burger King a few times because people would notice me if I went to the cafes. That\u2019s good for reporting and meeting people, but there are times I wanted to get away and write in my notebook. I soon realized that Burger King was full of people like me, sitting by themselves.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nBenson was built in the 1870s as railways reached this part of the prairies, and trains remain the town\u2019s background music. In the cafes, people barely look up when mile-long trains roar through downtown. Few people stop talking. <\/a>How did you learn the town\u2019s history?<\/span>Some was from a book about the history of settlers in western Minnesota, some from asking around, some from back issues of the Monitor-News.<\/span><\/span><\/a>Did you get the note about how people behave in cafes by hanging out there?<\/span>Yes. The trains are immense, and literally run through the middle of the little downtown, where the two main cafes are. I\u2019d look up when they\u2019d come through, but I saw that no one else did.<\/span><\/span>They\u2019ve been hearing those trains for generations.
\n
\nMany farms and businesses have been owned by the same families for decades: through the droughts of the 1930s; through the thriving years around World War II; to the population decline that began in the 1950s.
\n
\nBut plenty has changed.
\n
\nStores closed. Little farms were bought up by more successful farmers. Families left. Swift County\u2019s population has dropped about 30 percent since 1960, and now has about 10,000 residents. Meanwhile, a county that was 98% white in 1990 has seen a stream of new minority residents, particularly Latinos. The county is now 87% white – far whiter than much of America, but far more diverse than a generation ago. <\/a>How did you collect this demographic information?<\/span>I went to a wonderful Washington Post interactive that uses census data to show racial changes down to a very local level.<\/span><\/span><\/a>Why didn\u2019t you interview any of the minority newcomers?<\/span>I thought about it, and maybe I should have. But my focus was on conservatives and what they thought of the paper.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nToday, longtime locals can sometimes feel unmoored.
\n
\n\u201cThere are a lot of people coming through that I don\u2019t recognize,\u201d said Terri Collins, Benson\u2019s cheerful mayor, whose family has been in Benson for five generations. \u201cI used to know all of my neighbors and now that\u2019s different. And I don\u2019t know what to blame for that.\u201d <\/a><\/span>She is always cheerful, even at city council meetings. I thought about \u201cbubbly\u201d but that felt condescending.<\/span><\/span><\/a>These people seem very confused by the demographic changes. Where else do they get their news \u2014 is it Fox? If so, you don\u2019t mention it.<\/span>At one point I had a section about where people get their news, ranging from thoughtful websites to QAnon-style material. The range was so vast it seemed to complicate things, and I cut it for length.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nOnce, neighborliness and good manners were near-commandments here. Now anger is on the rise.
\n
\nNeighborhood shouting matches are more common, a local official\u2019s car was vandalized, and a \u201cF— Biden\u201d flag now flies along a school bus route. <\/a>How did you learn this detail?<\/span>Anfinson told me about it, and I drove past it many times.<\/span><\/span> Collins and the town police chief both say they sometimes worry about Anfinson\u2019s safety.
\n
\n\u201cTen years ago I don\u2019t think anything like this would happen,\u201d she said. <\/a>Evocative photos and video by David Goldman accompany the piece. Was he with you when you were reporting?<\/span>David was there for only one reporting trip, but he\u2019s a great journalist and he had invaluable insights and suggestions. Without David, for instance, I wouldn\u2019t have gone to the printing plant. While I didn\u2019t mention the plant in the story, just watching Anfinson there made me better understand his visceral connection to the paper.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nBut that was then. Travel across the plains of western Minnesota and you\u2019ll find plenty of people who are bestirred by a new and often dark vision of America.
\n
\nThey are not on the fringes, at least by current standards. They are, for the most part, mainstream conservatives who see a nation that barely exists in traditional newspapers and mainstream TV news broadcasts.
\n
\nPeople like the store manager, sitting at an American Legion bar drinking $3 cocktails, who calls the billionaire financier George Soros, a Jewish survivor of the Nazis and a powerful backer of liberal causes, \u201cone of the most evil men I\u2019ve ever heard of.\u201d And the semi-retired nurse who fears teams of sex traffickers she says operate freely in countless small towns.But it would be a mistake to think they can be categorized easily.
\n
\nSome desperately want Trump to run again; others pray he won\u2019t. One farmer quietly admits he worries about the growing numbers of racial minorities; another enjoys hearing new accents at the grocery store. Many are nearly as dismissive of conservative media as they are of traditional news outlets.
\n
\nWhile social conservatism has long run deep in Swift County — even the former, longtime Democratic congressman was anti-abortion and pro-gun rights — many say the presidency of Barack Obama marked a change. <\/a>The previous seven grafs indicate that you made the trip across the western plains of western Minnesota. How much time did you devote to gathering those observations and details, apart from your visit to Benson? Is this kind of reporting a reflection of the way you reported overseas?<\/span>Anfinson is the main reporter for the Monitor-News but he owns three little papers. I was originally going to write about the entire region those papers cover. So before I narrowed my focus I spent a couple reporting trips driving around the region and meeting people. While I used almost none of that reporting, it made it clear that Benson and Swift County aren\u2019t outliers, but a reflection of the larger area. I do that kind of reporting whenever I can, trying to get a larger perspective.<\/span><\/span> Gay marriage was legalized and identity politics took hold. Growing calls for transgender rights seemed like an issue from another planet. The sometimes-violent racial justice protests that followed police killings of Black men had some here stocking up on ammunition. <\/a>That is stated as a fact. How did you verify it?<\/span>Multiple people told me they had stocked up.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nTrump\u2019s cries that he loved America resonated in an area where new approaches to teaching U.S. history, with an increased focus on race, were confounding.
\n
\nSo in a county where Obama won with 55% of the vote in 2008, Trump won with 64% percent in 2020.
\n
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a shift here in Swift County,\u201d said Al Saunders. \u201cBut you won\u2019t see that in the newspaper.\u201d
\n
\n 
\n
\nAnfinson\u2019s weekly column, where he writes about everything from political divisions to rural housing shortages, is a local lightning rod.
\n
\nHe sighed: \u201cThat editorial page will have people hate me.\u201d
\n
\nAcross the U.S., many smaller newspapers, already facing economic decline with the rise of the internet, have cut back or completely stopped running editorials, trying to hold onto conservative readers who increasingly see them as local arms of a fake news universe. <\/a>Who gave you this information?<\/span>A string of newspaper editors told me about the situation as I was calling around the country. Joy Mathis Mayer later gave me more perspective.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nBut Anfinson won\u2019t consider that, even if sometimes he feels like he\u2019s tilting at angry, small-town windmills. <\/a>A nice touch!<\/span><\/span><\/span> He says it\u2019s his duty to expose people to new ideas, even unpopular ideas like stricter gun control.
\n
\nThe editorial page is, he says \u201cthe soul of a newspaper in a way.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cI would be a traitor to the cause of journalism, of community newspapers,\u201d by giving up on editorials, he said. \u201cI would be cowardly.\u201d
\n
\nSome would call him stubborn, and his wife and business partner, Shelly, would not disagree. It can be complicated being married to Reed Anfinson.
\n
\nLike the day last spring, when Anfinson was in the bar next to the office and a man loudly told a friend that Anfinson was a communist and \u201csomebody should do something about that guy.\u201d
\n
\nAnfinson knows the man. So does Shelly. A longtime dental hygienist, she cleaned his teeth for 20 years. She still says hello when she passes the man on the street.
\n
\n\u201cI try not to create a bigger divide,\u201d said Shelly, who, after a series of intensive classes on the newspaper business, began running another of the couple\u2019s weekly papers two years ago.
\n
\n\u201cI\u2019ve definitely lost sleep over some confrontations that he\u2019s had,\u201d she said. \u201cBut do you let that stand in the way of reporting the facts?\u201d
\n
\nShelly is warm and gregarious and easy to like. And when it comes to politics, she\u2019s not who you\u2019d expect to be married to the man often tagged as Benson\u2019s best-known liberal.
\n
\nShe\u2019s a pro-life Republican who voted for Trump, at least the first time. It annoys her when news outlets talk down to conservatives. She worries that there are too few Republican journalists.
\n
\nShe and Reed married 20 years ago, after both had been divorced. She moved in across the street and soon he was walking her home. <\/a>Why did you introduce Shelly into the narrative?<\/span>In part because it\u2019s so interesting that the Anfinsons have such different political views. But Shelly also raised some serious issues about the media, which added important context about the widespread distrust.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\nShe is often torn between support for Reed and worries over subscriber loss.
\n
\nStill, she\u2019s been pressing him to tone down the politics.
\n
\n\u201cIt is a struggle. I can tell these things to my business partner. It\u2019s harder to tell them to my husband.\u201d
\n

\nIn the custom of small-town Minnesota, the Anfinson and Wolter families get along, at least outwardly. They wave when they see each other. When one family is out of town, the other will sometimes watch their home.
\n
\n\u201cWe\u2019re still personable,\u201d Wolter says. \u201cI just don\u2019t trust him.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cHe\u2019s not going to come to church and I\u2019m not going to buy his newspaper. But we can still treat each other as neighbors.\u201d
\n
\nWhile he believes Anfinson is sincere in what he publishes, he does not believe his neighbor has a monopoly on truth.
\n
\nWolter also knows that plenty of people would write him off as just another conspiracy monger. But he\u2019s far more complicated.
\n
\nHe worries his conservative opinions color what he believes: \u201cThere are times when I\u2019ve thought: \u2018Well, what if all my angst over this is misplaced?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe everyone else is right?\u201d
\n
\nBut he worries more about America: \u201cThis is a dark time.\u201d
\n
\nHe criticizes conservative politicians for trying to make it illegal to burn the American flag, but worries about far-right accusations that that U.S. soldiers are hunting down American conservatives. <\/a>Why does Wolter play such a big role in your story?<\/span>I wanted to show that conservatives like him can\u2019t be reduced to simplistic cliches.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n\u201cMaybe five or 10 years ago, I would have said \u2018That\u2019s crazy!\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cNow I acknowledge it might be possible. I\u2019m not saying I think it\u2019s happening, but at least I don\u2019t dismiss it the way that I would have.\u201d
\n
\nWolter, whose home library includes everything from Sophocles to \u201cThe Grapes of Wrath,\u201d is a careful reader, in his own way. <\/a>How do you know this?<\/span>He and I had talked about his wide-ranging reading habits. Later, when I asked what was on his home bookshelf, he took a couple photos of the shelves and emailed them to me.<\/span><\/span> He\u2019s wary of conservative news sites like Breitbart, believing it shapes its reporting to please conservative readers. Instead, he finds his news farther off the beaten path, like on Gab, a Twitter-like social media platform that has become home to many on America\u2019s far right.
\n
\n\u201cFor better or for worse I don\u2019t really trust anything I read,\u201d he says. The answer, he said, is research, probing the farthest corners of the internet.
\n
\nThe answers are not to be found, he insists, in the Swift Country Monitor-News.
\n
\nAnfinson, for his part, doesn\u2019t want to talk about Wolter, at least not directly. He\u2019s watched Benson\u2019s fragile web of community fray too much.
\n
\nInstead, he talks proudly about the Monitor-News: how it prints letters to the editor that are harshly critical of it; how he reports the truth even if it costs him; how his coverage of the pandemic goes to the heart of journalists\u2019 responsibility to keep their communities safe.
\n
\nHe mourns how some people see him as an enemy. His newspaper should bind people together, he says. Instead, America and Benson are growing angrier. Contentious midterm elections loom.
\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s kind of sad,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it would be foolish of me not to be aware of (my safety) with the sentiments out there.\u201d
\n
\nDoes he carry a weapon? This soft-spoken man says he does not.
\n
\n\u201cBut I know where one is if I need it.\u201d
\n
\n<\/a>This may be the saddest moment in a tragic story about America. How and why did you decide to end your piece this way?<\/span>I was thinking about how journalism has changed in America \u2014 about the Annapolis newsroom killings in 2018, and how journalists now regularly wear body armor to protests. When I was first a reporter, at the Public Opinion newspaper in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, it would have seemed ridiculous to take a gas mask and body armor on assignment. But times have changed.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n***
\n
\nChip Scanlan<\/strong> is an award-winning reporter who taught at The Poynter Institute from 1994-2009.He lives and writes in St. Petersburg, Florida, and publishes Chip’s Writing Lessons,<\/a> a newsletter of tips and inspiration. His new book, “Writers on Writing,”<\/a> is available on Amazon.<\/em>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AP reporter Tim Sullivan found a small town on the Minnesota prairie to explore the political chasms exposed by COVID<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"topics":[],"authors":[13],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-2245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-annotation-tuesday","authors-chip-scanlan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nViewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community - Nieman Storyboard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community - Nieman Storyboard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AP reporter Tim Sullivan found a small town on the Minnesota prairie to explore the political chasms exposed by COVID\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nieman Storyboard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-08T13:00:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-13T20:55:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"commonmedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"commonmedia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"25 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"commonmedia\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ad131fac9b2e8136d6171c8575cfc226\"},\"headline\":\"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-08T13:00:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-13T20:55:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":5703,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Story Annotations\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/\",\"name\":\"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community - Nieman Storyboard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-08T13:00:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-13T20:55:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"A grain elevator in Benson, on the prairie in western Minnesota, where disagreements about COVID vaccinations has deepened political divides. AP Photo\\\/David Goldman\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/08\\\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nieman Storyboard\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Nieman Storyboard\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/NiemanKOLogo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/app\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/NiemanKOLogo.svg\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"Nieman Storyboard\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ad131fac9b2e8136d6171c8575cfc226\",\"name\":\"commonmedia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7a67dac1d5145031a5e3f8bcb411f86c4aed5a7ebe4244392196080637ed18af?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7a67dac1d5145031a5e3f8bcb411f86c4aed5a7ebe4244392196080637ed18af?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7a67dac1d5145031a5e3f8bcb411f86c4aed5a7ebe4244392196080637ed18af?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"commonmedia\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/wp\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/niemanstoryboard.org\\\/author\\\/commonmedia\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community - Nieman Storyboard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community - Nieman Storyboard","og_description":"AP reporter Tim Sullivan found a small town on the Minnesota prairie to explore the political chasms exposed by COVID","og_url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/","og_site_name":"Nieman Storyboard","article_published_time":"2022-02-08T13:00:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-13T20:55:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"commonmedia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"commonmedia","Est. reading time":"25 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/"},"author":{"name":"commonmedia","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ad131fac9b2e8136d6171c8575cfc226"},"headline":"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community","datePublished":"2022-02-08T13:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-13T20:55:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/"},"wordCount":5703,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg","articleSection":["Story Annotations"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/","url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/","name":"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community - Nieman Storyboard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-08T13:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-13T20:55:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP_22027549943972-scaled-e1644290233393.jpg","width":750,"height":500,"caption":"A grain elevator in Benson, on the prairie in western Minnesota, where disagreements about COVID vaccinations has deepened political divides. AP Photo\/David Goldman"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2022\/02\/08\/reporting-the-covid-divide-through-tensions-in-one-rural-community\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Viewing the COVID divide through tensions in one rural community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/","name":"Nieman Storyboard","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#organization","name":"Nieman Storyboard","url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/NiemanKOLogo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/NiemanKOLogo.svg","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"Nieman Storyboard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ad131fac9b2e8136d6171c8575cfc226","name":"commonmedia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a67dac1d5145031a5e3f8bcb411f86c4aed5a7ebe4244392196080637ed18af?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a67dac1d5145031a5e3f8bcb411f86c4aed5a7ebe4244392196080637ed18af?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a67dac1d5145031a5e3f8bcb411f86c4aed5a7ebe4244392196080637ed18af?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"commonmedia"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp"],"url":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/author\/commonmedia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2245"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13515,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions\/13515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=2245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}