Since the election of President Trump, the national media have turned “What do Trump voters think?”-themed stories into a cottage industry. But reporting on the realities that exist between the coasts requires more than just parachuting into the Heartland. There are stories to be told, and perspectives to be unpacked, that can only come from reporters who live in these communities. Hear four journalists, who live and work in rural America, discuss the issues that matter to their neighbors (hint: it may not be what you think), and their strategies for covering those stories with a sensitivity to both local sentiment and to the larger national debate about this moment in American politics.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.