As the local English-language paper struggled, López steps in to start another
Earlier this year, Lee Enterprises undertook cost-cutting strategies at its local newspaper, The Denison Bulletin-Review, that effectively ended the Bulletin-Review careers of veteran reporters Gordon Wolf and Dan Mundt.
But in stepped López — who hired them, and started her own English-language newspaper July 6 — The Denison Free Press. López, Wolf and Mundt work to cover the Denison region, reporting and writing in English and Spanish.
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López and Wolf, the longtime editor of the Bulletin-Review, were waiting to interview Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley at an Italian restaurant, Bella Sera, near the hospital here when Wolf told López that he'd soon be out of a job.
"Come work for me, Gordon," López said.
They interviewed Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador. Then, over lunch the next day, Wolf jumped at the opportunity to keep reporting in Denison, a city in which he and López are among the most trusted residents. "Hey, boss," Wolf often says to López when he enters the office. She hates the designation but smiles magnetically when she hears it.
“I’ve written about and photographed numerous individuals running for national and state offices, but I believe the most important people I’ve interviewed are those who go out of their way to make life better for others,” Wolf said. “Over the years, I developed a kind of philosophy, or mission statement, about the purpose for my career — to inform readers about their communities, to allow people to learn more about where they live and work and themselves, to help them realize that they are the lifeblood of their communities, and that what they believe and do matters.”
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Iowa community journalists Lorena López and Gordon Wolf talk recently inside the office of La Prensa Spanish Newspaper and The Denison Free Press above The Donna Reed Theater in downtown Denison. (Photo Courtesy Of The Denison Free Press)
With Dan Mundt on board, too, they designed a masthead, built a website, reached out to advertisers and started raising funds from the community for The Denison Free Press — La Prensa's English-speaking sister newspaper.
Residents open wallets, credit López as the person 'saving our local news'
In a moment that seemed to be conjured by the spirits of Donna Reed and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, residents of Denison and surrounding areas filled a basket with checks and cash during a recent Chamber of Commerce event at the Donna Reed Theatre in downtown Denison.
Reed, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in "From Here To Eternity" — where she co-starred with Frank Sinatra — is known more for her culturally durable and iconic film turn as the glowingly resourceful wife of Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life." The Donna Reed Theatre shows the movie during the holidays with Spanish subtitles.
As López was covering the Crawford County Fair in Denison this summer, a local farmer approached the newspaper publisher.
“You are the lady who is saving our local news,” the man said before writing a check to support The Denison Free Press.
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Ron and Jane Olson, natives of Manilla and Denison, respectively, who now live in California, have been early supporters of the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. Because of their ties to Crawford County they have been large supporters of La Prensa and The Denison Free Press. Additionally, the Olsons recently donated $5 million to Drake University for the Ron and Jane Olson Center For Public Democracy on the Des Moines campus of that university. (Photo By Douglas Burns)
Few days go by without letters and notes of encouragement from readers, new residents and older readers without internet access who would feel cut off from life without the printed word.
Many in Denison see López as an inspirational figure in the spirit of Reed, whose radiant, star-from-the-golden-era smile jumps from photos adorning store windows downtown. But Mundt says that as challenging as it may be, it would take a resurrected Jimmy Stewart to capture what López means to Denison.
In "It's A Wonderful Life," a guardian angel shows George Bailey how his life has touched the lives of many other people, helping his family, neighbors and community. In Denison, López is a concierge for the immigrant community, her iPhone always abuzz with questions about vaccines or workplace paperwork or how to navigate the Crawford County Courthouse. And she's also a connector, often the first person called by business and political leaders, statewide and nationally, who need the ears of Latinos.
López has her eyes intently fixed on more than her newspapers: She's on the front lines to save as many reporting jobs as possible in western Iowa.
Working with her friend, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Art Cullen in nearby Storm Lake, Iowa, López co-founded the nonprofit Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. It now has an executive director and board and has funded reporting positions in Denison, Storm Lake, Carroll, Jefferson and Cherokee — and a part-time reporter with Iowa Public Radio.
"The more people are plugged into civic affairs, the better for everyone," said Cullen, the editor and co-owner of the Storm Lake Times-Pilot. "Lorena and I work together to promote support for the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. I’m the old white guy who’s been around forever, and she is an enthusiastic Latina who brings a whole different perspective to community journalism."
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