In May, the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area will welcome Alan Achkar, executive editor of the South Bend Tribune, to discuss the future of local news. The event will take place virtually on May 14, 2021 at noon.
Newspapers and other local media outlets have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. The South Bend Tribune, other newspapers, and other local news outlets have reacted to the Digital Age with a host of changes. How can they carve out a future in the era of mobile phones, social media, and changing consumer habits? Can traditional news platforms, such as a printed newspaper, survive? How can impactful journalism still be produced and delivered to you? And what does a digital news future mean to readers?
For the past seven years, Alan Achkar has been the executive editor of the South Bend Tribune. He also serves as Northern Indiana editor for Gannett, overseeing newspapers in Lafayette, Muncie and other communities. In South Bend, he has helped focus the Tribune on high-impact journalism and driving digital audience growth. During that time, the Tribune has twice been named Indiana’s best newspaper and partnered with ProPublica on an award-winning series of stories on criminal justice as part of the organization’s Local Reporting Network.
Before coming to South Bend, Achkar served as local news editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. An Ohio native, he started his career at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, serving in various reporting and editing roles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in public policy from the London School of Economics.
To join the Zoom meeting, use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82106308403?pwd=bE5RTEFVYjJlaTZkaVp2OGZhZGN4Zz09
