‘Storm Lake’ film on role of community journalism to play Nov. 4 in Greenfield

GREENFIELD — Art Cullen, Pulitzer Prize winning editor of the Storm Lake Times will be the star of the show in a free public viewing of the movie “Storm Lake,” about his small town newspaper’s role in its community, 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4 at the Warren Cultural Center on the Greenfield Public Square.

In this movie, viewers will be able to go inside a family-run newspaper with a rich 40-year history of covering all the issues and changes its community has seen in that time.

Area journalists and all who have questions and concerns about the current state of small town media and its critical role for assuring quality of community life in rural Iowa are encouraged to attend this event, a press release from the Warren Cultural Center said.

“All these newspapers are going through a tough time. These communities are going through a tough time. Greenfield and Storm Lake have not had it easy since 1980. I hope people can appreciate the fact that we’re struggling to provide them with as complete of a picture as we can of their community, whether it’s Greenfield or Storm Lake,” Cullen said. “That becomes difficult with all the consolidation we’ve seen. That becomes difficult for communities to support journalism, but we have to somehow because, as I say, the community starts to unravel, I think, if we don’t.”

Reception of this film has been positive, Cullen said. The film has been shown in his hometown of Algona and in Storm Lake, as well as a handful of other places, including the Iowa Theater in Winterset. On a larger scale, Cullen said Minneapolis gave the movie a warm welcome on their stop there, and the movie has been shown also in Detroit and Chicago.

“You never know what’s going to happen in your own hometown. Are all your own old enemies going to show up and throw tomatoes, or what? The Vista Theatre was full, the crowd was really enthusiastic,” Cullen said. “We went to Algona, which is where our family originally came from, and the theater was full. It’s really gratifying and pretty encouraging.”

A panel of experts will answer questions from the crowd following the movie. Panelists include Cullen of the Storm Lake Times; Iowa State University rural economist and researcher David Swenson; Greenfield native and Tipton Conservative sports editor Matthew Dickinson; and Jefferson Herald columnist and reporter Rick Morain.

“People gain a recognition of connection between community newspapers and its community,” Cullen said. “It’s not a stronger community unless you have the Adair County Free Press. With a newspaper like that and its great tradition, it has really helped shape the community. I hope that’s what shows in this movie — how we [as small town newspapers] help build and shape communities in positive ways.”

Soulshine Food Truck will have food on the Public Square that attendees will be able to take in to the movie.