Storm Lake

Premiered November 15, 2021

Directed by Jerry Risius and Beth Levison

Inside the family-run newspaper keeping local journalism alive.

About the Documentary

Does American democracy survive without the backbone of independent local journalism? Go inside The Storm Lake Times, a family-run newspaper serving an Iowa town that has seen its share of changes in the 40 years since Big Agriculture came to the area. Pulitzer-winning editor Art Cullen and his team dedicate themselves to keeping the paper alive as local journalism across the country dies out. Update (April 11, 2022): The number of local news publishing companies in Buena Vista County and Cherokee County in Iowa recently declined with the purchase of the Pilot-Tribune and the Cherokee Chronicle Times by The Storm Lake Times Company. While the Cherokee Chronicle Times will remain as is, The Storm Lake Times has merged with the Pilot-Tribune into a single publication, The Storm Lake Times Pilot. The new paper reports that "all staffers were offered jobs at the same or better pay," and that the new publication will contain more advertising and pages.

The Filmmakers

Jerry Risius

Iowa-born and raised Jerry Risius (director/DP) has over 25 years of experience as a director of photography on projects such as the Anthony Bourdain series Parts Unknown (CNN) and No Reservations (Travel Channel), The Kingmaker (Showtime), Generation Wealth (Amazon Prime), and Seeing Allred (Netflix). The film Storm Lake is his directorial debut.

Beth Levison

NYC-based Beth Levison’s (director/producer) recent producing credits include Women in Blue (Independent Lens), Emmy-nominated Made in Boise (Independent Lens), and 32 Pills (HBO). Storm Lake, which she also produced, marks her return to directing. She is a co-founder of the Documentary Producers Alliance and an AMPAS member.