Jim Meadows
Reporter, Illinois Public Media/WILLI report for Harvest Public Media for Illinois Public Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before coming to Urbana, I was a reporter at public radio station WCBU in Peoria, Illinois, dating back to 1989.
Both areas have provided plenty of opportunities to report on food, farming and rural issues over the years. I’ve covered land claim lawsuits filed against Illinois landowners by the Miami tribe, the growth of the Illinois-Iowa Farm Progress Show, and increasing awareness of the importance of the Mahomet Aquifer to residents and industry in east-central Illinois.
I first thought of broadcasting as a career when I learned my local high school in the Chicago suburbs had a low-power student radio station. WRHS in Park Forest is, sadly, no longer on the air. But it gave me my first on-air experience in the 1970s, and my first opportunities to do some reporting.
You can reach me at meadows@illinois.edu.
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The U.S. has lost more than 2,800 newspapers since 2005, many of them in rural areas. Now some journalists are redoubling their efforts to provide local news and trying new models in a difficult industry. -
An Environmental Working Group report questions the effectiveness of some farming practices that the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently added to its Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which incentives conservation practices. The USDA counters that the practices have gone through “a rigorous science-based evaluation process.” -
As the number of wind and solar farms increases, so does opposition in the rural areas where they’re being built. While more counties and townships passed restrictions in the last year, some states are responding by passing laws making it harder for local governments to say no to wind and solar.
