Alex Milan Tracy for Underscore
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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Rural Americans don’t live as long as those in cities − new research
February 11, 2025
A key reason is worse rates among rural people for smoking, obesity and chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
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3 myths about rural education that are holding students back
January 09, 2025
Scholars who study rural education compiled a list of facts about rural education accompanied by the myths that would help policymakers better design programs to support rural students.
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Why natural disasters hit harder in rural school districts
December 18, 2024
While natural disasters and health crises may have long-lasting effects on any school system, in rural areas the lack of physical, financial and organizational resources is amplified when disaster strikes.
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After wildfires, ranchers face 2-year delay to graze cattle on federal land – is it doing more harm than good?
December 16, 2024
Two years of lost income and the added cost of purchasing feed and repairing infrastructure can be as devastating to rural communities as the fires themselves.
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Rust Belt voters aren’t all white, but election coverage of the region often ignores the concerns of people of color there
October 31, 2024
Many rural parts of these states have a majority of white residents. The broader Rust Belt, however, also has long and important Black and Indigenous histories and contains some of the nation’s fastest-growing minority populations – in particular Latino, Arab and Asian communities.
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What to do if your vote is challenged: Practical advice from a civil rights attorney for Election Day
October 28, 2024
With the general election drawing close, it’s important to know your rights in case your vote is challenged.
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Can Montana’s ‘last rural Democrat’ survive another election?
October 08, 2024
Montanans used to split tickets, voting for Democrats and Republicans. Growing partisanship looks likely to kill that tradition, which may mean Democratic Sen. Jon Tester loses his reelection bid.
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America’s dairy farms are disappearing, down 95% since the 1970s − milk price rules are one reason why
September 16, 2024
This massive consolidation in dairy farming has an impact on rural communities. It also makes it more difficult for consumers to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced.
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Avian flu has infected dairy cows in more than a dozen states – a microbiologist explains how the virus is spreading
August 28, 2024
The current strain of avian flu, H5N1, is responsible for the culling of millions of domestic birds and has sickened more than a dozen farmworkers in 2024, most recently in Colorado.
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Rural voters don’t necessarily love Walz, despite the camo hat and small-town upbringing
August 21, 2024
“Midwestern Nice” does little to capture the grievance and anxiety felt by many rural residents living across the country.
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Banana apocalypse, part 2 – a genomicist explains the tricky genetics of the fungus devastating bananas worldwide
August 16, 2024
Researchers have discover a major cause for the recent resurgence of this fungal infection is the domination of the international banana industry by a single clone of banana.
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From folksy Midwestern teacher to ‘cool dad’ meme machine: who is Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ VP running mate?
August 07, 2024
Walz undeniably has strong roots in rural and working-class America, despite being a member of a Democratic Party that has become increasingly urban and highly educated in recent years.
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Michigan’s thousands of farmworkers are unprotected, poorly paid, uncounted and often exploited
July 15, 2024
Beneath its picturesque facade of crop fields and fruit trees, lies a harsh reality of precarious work and exploitative labor practices for Michigan’s farmworkers, who are often invisible to people who enjoy the fruits of their labors, according to the Michigan Farmworker Project’s ongoing research.
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Oklahoma’s superintendent orders public schools to teach the Bible – relying on controversial views about religious freedom
July 08, 2024
Ryan Walters claimed in an interview on NewsNation that the Bible had “been removed from classrooms, and we’re saying, listen, we’re proud to be the first state to bring it back.”
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Hundreds of thousands of US infants every year pay the consequences of prenatal exposure to drugs, a growing crisis particularly in rural America
February 27, 2024
The highest rate has been observed in West Virginia, at 53 per 1,000 births. Other states with high rates include Maine, Vermont, Delaware and Kentucky, which are between three and four times the national average of 7.3 per 1,000 births.
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