-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Does American democracy survive without the backbone of independent local journalism?

That question serves as the theme of the documentary, “Storm Lake,” airing recently on the PBS show, “Independent Lens.” The segment follows the daily ins and outs of Art Cullen and his family, who run the Storm Lake Times, which debuted in 1990. Initially, the paper printed weekly, with Friday distribution. Within three years, the Times began printing daily. A month later, another newspaper in Storm Lake started printing daily and the town, with a population of approximately 8,500 at the time, garnered natio...