June 30, 2025
Local NewsState & National

Thriving or failing?

IPTV videographer visits Adair County for Market to Market

By CALEB NELSON

Iowa Public Television videographer Steve Carns shoots video toward the Nodaway Valley High School building from near the football stadium last Thursday in Greenfield. Carns was in town capturing video and still photography for an upcoming segment on the show "Market to Market" dealing with the health of the economies of rural communities. (Photo by)

Some small towns thrive and others dwindle into the sunset. Steve Carns, videographer with Iowa Public Television, assured locals last Wednesday when he was in Adair County that all three of Adair County’s communities along Highway 92 are thriving, when you compare them to others their size.

Carns, who has been in the broadcasting industry for decades, works with IPTV and one of his regular projects is shooting video for “Market to Market,” a show that, for over 40 years, has covered the over $800 billion agriculture business.

Carns came to Greenfield, Fontanelle and Bridgewater to gather what is called B-roll for a segment that will air soon on the show contrasting communities that are thriving and those that are dieing.

“I’m out here with Market to Market today. They’re doing a story on rural towns. Some are surviving and some aren’t,” Carns said. “I’m shooting B-roll cover for the producer who will come back and do his interviews later. I’ve been in Fontanelle, Bridgewater and Greenfield. This is about rural towns and the health of their economy. B-roll is an old Hollywood term and I’m out here shooting the pictures, video and sound that will tell the story.”

Carns explained he shot video in Adair County in residential areas as well as businesses such as the Bridgewater Cafe. He shot video of business callers walking in and out of establishments on the Greenfield Square, which he was particularly impressed with.

“Just a community’s lifeblood,” Carns described as what he was looking for. “I love what I do and where I’m doing it. I’ve been down here many times for Market to Market, Iowa Outdoors, and we have a contract with the Iowa Girls Athletic Union, so I have been down in this part of the state profiling girl athletes and things like that.”

While Carns admitted every community has its problems, and his job is to tell the story, including the good and bad, there were a couple of things that impressed him about Greenfield and Adair County as a whole.

“You’re not doing what I call outsourcing. A lot of communities of your size that we profile, if you want to go to church or go to the grocery store, you go to the next town,” Carns said.