Galvanizing events in St. Louis and Hutchinson elevate and motivate this Kansas opinion writer
States Newsroom editors and headquarters staff gather for a group photo June 4, 2026, in St. Louis. Kansas Reflector editor Sherman Smith can be spotted sixth from left in the back row. (Photo by Fernando Wright/States Newsroom)
Too easily these days, we can find ourselves entrapped in a doom loop of bad vibes and negative thinking.
Social media algorithms feed us enraging engagement bait. Friends and neighbors can talk for hours about this, that or the other public outrage. Our society’s trust in institutions has dropped off the proverbial cliff.
Yet over this past week I found hope. Two events in three days showed me how in even the most challenging times, good people unite for positive purposes. Not only do shreds of hope remain for the future, but an abundant crop of the stuff sprouts underneath our feet. We just have to look down and see it growing.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Kansas Reflector staff visited the annual convening of States Newsroom editors. Our commander in chief, Sherman Smith, usually attends, but the meeting was held in St. Louis for the first time this year. Thus, I joined reporters Tim Carpenter, Morgan Chilson and Anna Kaminski for a train trek across Missouri.
You might have seen that the news media faces big challenges. Layoffs, rapacious owners and the threat of AI have combined into a toxic plume of sludge polluting the waters of public discourse.
Yet in St. Louis, I saw something very different. I saw, well, this:
States Newsroom video
That was a video shown as part of a welcome presentation by States Newsroom publisher and CEO Chris Fitzsimon. The network now serves all 50 states (with 39 outlets and 11 partners), along with a Washington, D.C., bureau and national coverage through Stateline. More than 200 work here, all with the same goal of showing how state governments affect the lives of everyday folks.
When explaining our work at Kansas Reflector, I’m always excited to talk about States Newsroom.
We’re not alone. We don’t do this in a vacuum. We revel in a coast-to-coast network of devoted, inspiring journalists, who are swimming against the tide and doing inspiring work.
In St. Louis, I was delighted to meet and chat with Adam Kealoha Causey, our national editor; Jason Hancock, editor of the Missouri Independent; Jon King, editor of the Michigan Advance; Holly McCall, editor of the Tennessee Lookout; Jonathan Shorman of States Newsroom’s D.C. bureau (and a former colleague of mine at the Topeka Capital-Journal); Julia Shumway, editor of the Oregon Capital Chronicle; and Dana Wormald, editor of the New Hampshire Bulletin (and a former colleague of mine at the Concord Monitor).
Many more folks attended, of course, but the Kansas crew left early Thursday. Regrets to all of those I missed. Your continued dedication to the cause of informing readers across these United States gave me a profound psychic lift.
Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone points out his acknowledgment of States Newsroom national editor Adam Kealoha Causey in his upcoming book. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
The next day, Carpenter and I drove three hours to, and three hours from, Hutchison for the annual Kansas Press Association awards of excellence ceremony.
I wrote about Kansas Reflector’s awards in April, but I was happy to see friends and colleagues from across the state. They included Kansas Reflector columnist Mark McCormick and freelancer Grace Hills, along with Iola Register managing editor Tim Stauffer, Kansas Publishing Ventures’ Joey Young, and Kansas Press Association executive director Emily Bradbury.
I know, I know. You’ve seen a lot of linked names so far in this column. But more people should understand that the “news media” doesn’t consist of an amorphous blob of bad intentions. It instead includes an incredible variety of professionals, many of whom have dedicated their lives to their communities. They have given up holidays with family, consistent hours and even economic stability.
As I watched plaques being handed out Friday night, I thought of all those editors gathered in St. Louis.
I thought about my profound luck, more than 20 years after graduating from the University of Kansas’ William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, to still have a job in journalism. While I’ve cycled through more mental doom loops than I care to count, the need to write and edit and explain always breaks me free.
The community of journalists and the field of journalism has gone through a lot. So has this nation and state.
But if we open our eyes to those surrounding us, those colleagues and friends who sustain and inspire, we might just decide the best is yet to come.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.