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Reporting from in and around Illinois.Listen to Statewide on WNIJ Saturdays 6-7 a.m. and Sundays 6-7 p.m.

Statewide: The changing media landscape and its impact

While larger cities have seen newspaper staffs decimated, some smaller communities have far less coverage, if any at all. The rise of the internet and how people access information have changed the traditional news model. We'll examine the problem and some possible solutions.

We'll also look back at the 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds and how it showed the power of radio. Those stories and more on Statewide.

This week:

* Illinois Newsroom has been asking "Who's In Charge Of The News?" As part of that reporting, Jim Meadows tells us how a weekly newspaper in Ford County ended publication last month. But a newer offering is providing a test of whether people want to pay for journalism.

* Emily Hays talks with University of Illinois Journalism Professor Nikki Usher about how misinformation regarding COVID-19 spreads in rural areas.

* WSIU's Jennifer Fuller sits down with Southern Illinois University President Dan Mahoney about plans for the future and the recent move to declare the system an anti-racist organization.

* Peter Medlin with WNIJ gets the story on why an Illinois High School is in possession of a real Egyptian mummy.

* Sean Crawford interviews author Tara McClellan McAndrew about the famous 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds.

* WCBU's Tim Shelley reports on an effort to create landmarks in Galesburg to honor the "Boxcar People."

* Jim Meadows speaks with researcher Penelope Muse Abernathy about news deserts.

* Reginald Hardwick has a conversation with two individuals documenting the next generation of news outlets.

Copyright 2021 NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS. To see more, visit NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS.