By Gary Dickson, Publisher & Editor

Well now, it looks like The Siouxland Observer has made it a little over a week. I’ve noticed that we seem to be attracting a slow, but steady stream of subscribers.

That must mean that people are finding the stories and photos I’ve published so far interesting. I also believe that The Siouxland Observer is providing hyper-local news coverage by telling readers stories that other publications and news outlets are missing or outright ignoring for a variety of reasons.

I want to tell you about the next step in our news coverage here at The Siouxland Observer. You got an inkling of it on Saturday, Oct. 14 when I posted the story about the state of Iowa joining the pork producers’ challenge of a new Massachusetts law that bans the sale of pork that doesn’t meet strict hog-confinement requirements. It was written by Clark Kauffman, Deputy Editor of the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Iowa’s new Attorney General Brenna Bird apparently has a flair for colorful, if not provocative statements, judging from her campaign ads last fall (“Give ‘Em The Bird” or something similar). Kaufman wrote in the article:

On Tuesday, the office of Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed an unusually phrased amicus brief siding with the pork producers, arguing that “the increased costs on pig farmers and pork processors will make American consumers squeal about higher pork prices.”

I thought that was quite humorous and explained that the Massachusetts law would have a negative effect on American consumers as well as hog farmers who raise Iowa’s second-highest cash-producing agricultural product. By the way, hogs are also South Dakota’s fifth-highest cash-producing agricultural product.

I mention all this because periodically you are going to find stories in The Siouxland Observer that at first glance seem to be outside the realm of local community news. But when you think about it, they really aren’t.

Take agriculture or farm stories. You’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t think stories about crop conditions, livestock raising, the farm economy, etc. didn’t relate to folks in Dakota Dunes, North Sioux City, Riverside, South Sioux City, Morningside, Leeds, Downtown Sioux City, Elk Point, Vermillion, or any other town, community, or urban area in Siouxland.

You can expect me to do my best to localize it for you whenever possible. I didn’t get that done with the Iowa joining the pork producers challenge story. I guess I was too eager to get that story posted. But I should have run a brief explanation to it and possibly talked to a couple of local hog farmers. I should also have mentioned that you would need to subscribe to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is free by entering your email. Please forgive me for my oversights. I will do better next time.

According to their website, “The Iowa Capital Dispatch is a nonprofit organization, free of advertising and free to readers, dedicated to connecting Iowans to their state government and its impact on their lives. The Capital Dispatch combines state government coverage with relentless investigative journalism, deep dives into the consequences of policy, political insight, and principled commentary.” We may republish their stories in The Siouxland Observer that are applicable to our readers under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of a network of editors and reporters in 36 states across the country called the States Newsroom. The organization provides its network of leading editors and reporters with the resources they need to cover their communities. Every newsroom is led by a veteran local journalist with deep knowledge of the state’s political history and media landscape who oversees a staff of experienced capital reporters. In addition to Iowa, there is the South Dakota Searchlight, the Nebraska Examiner and the Minnesota Reformer that are part of the States Newsroom network. I may utilize appropriate stories from any one of those three publications.

Last, but certainly not least, there is South Dakota News Watch. South Dakota News Watch journalists investigate important subjects, unravel complicated issues and tell stories that too often go untold—stories that make sense of our complex world.

Founded in 2017, South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit committed to reporting the most important statewide stories, from agriculture to education, public safety to politics.

All these organizations offer resources I couldn’t afford to hire here at The Siouxland Observer. Granted, most of their stories have a larger focus than we need here at the confluence of the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers — at least right now. I will use their stories sparingly — and judiciously. I do think I will rely on them more when we get closer to the 2024 election in our states.

If you get a chance follow the links and take a look at their stories. These journalism organizations are nonpartisan. The reporters ask tough questions and they appear to be excellent writers. Some of them in South Dakota I’ve known for a number of years and respect their reporting.

Let me know what you think. And thanks for reading The Siouxland Observer.