In this podcast, our guest is Jim Painter, who spent 40 years in the newspaper business as a reporter and photojournalist and ended his career as managing editor of Phoenix’s West Valley View newspaper, published twice a week with a circulation of 80,000.

Jim was one of the first guests on our podcast four years ago. Then we talked about the state of the media, its evolution, biases, and challenges.

Today, we continued to discuss the media landscape that is controlled by a handful of conglomerates, shrinking independent outlets, staff cuts, dominance of Right-Wing consolidation, and declining revenues.

But there may be a ray of hope with independent journalism, challenging the dominance of traditional newspapers, offering alternative perspectives, and better adapting to the digital age.

We also review Jim’s new book, “Crossroad of Change,” a collection of his photos from his time in the 1980s and 1990s when he chronicled the pivotal decade of growth and development in the Phoenix Southwest Valley. Jim is a remarkable photographer, not just when he was a newspaper photojournalist, but also today.

Google Photo Album of some pictures mentioned: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6eNnK3EJrzUY97aK9

Visit Jim Painter’s art: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jim-painter

Order the book: https://www.amazon.com/Crossroads-Images-decade-change-Southwest/dp/B0DJJWHRVZ/

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

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