Greensburg attracts national news

June 16, 2006

Jordan Fischer The Greensburg Daily News Fri Jun 16, 2006, 09:48 AM EDT

“World famous” as the Tower Tree may be, it’s not often it brings national news reporters to town. The Honda name, however, apparently has a bit more drawing power than the aspen.

On Thursday, Adam Davidson from National Public Radio and Ilan Brat from the Wall Street Journal spent their day interviewing community leaders to get their take on the situation, how Honda will impact the community and what kind of place Greensburg really is.

The Greensburg Daily News sat down with the journalists to discover why Greensburg is suddenly getting so much attention outside of Decatur County.

“A big plant like Honda is going to attract big national attention wherever they go,” Brat explained. “They are drawing so much business from the Big Three automakers these days, people want to know what they are doing.”

The automaker may be the “why” of the story, but the “how” it reached these men is different for both.

“I wanted to do a story about how the global economy affects small communities. This fit the bill perfectly,” Davidson explained. “For me, it marks a change in the American attitude and economy - not that Greensburg was picked by Honda but that Greensburg was so eager. Not too long ago, people might have been suspicious of a foreign company.”

Brat had been covering the Indiana economy and its attempts to rejuvenate itself for some time, so the Honda story fit right into his beat as well.

Both reporters noted they weren’t expecting what they found when they reached Greensburg.

“The level of eagerness surprised me,” remarked Davidson. “I didn’t realize Greensburg is so authentically heartland America. Walking on the streets, it could be 1950. It’s amazing it could preserve that feel and find a way to accommodate foreign business.”

The tale of Greensburg is not just of interest to reporters either, both said their audience would definitely find something to the story they could connect with.

“I wanted a story where there would be a small town confronting major change with the global economy. I don’t think there’s anyone in America who doesn’t see the small town as part of the American image,” Davidson said. “There’s probably not anyone, man, woman or child who wouldn’t feel some emotional connection to a story like this.”

The Wall Street Journal typically has a very urban readership but, nevertheless, Brat says they too would find interest in Greensburg.

“For the Journal’s readership, with the flight to the city, I think people are losing connection to small towns like this,” Brat noted. “The Journal tells stories of places like this to reconnect them with something they’ve lost.”

Davidson and Brat both seemed pleased with the story they’ve found here.

“My job is to cover the global economy,” Davidson said. “That can be very abstract, unemotional and boring. I’m constantly looking for those times when broad issues are confronting human beings with emotional change.”

To comment on or view reaction to this or other local stories please visit www.greensburgdailynews.com.

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