Local News, Local Impact: Post Election Debrief Webinar

Scott Horsley is NPR’s Chief Economics Correspondent. He reports on ups and downs in the national economy as well as fault lines between booming and busting communities.

Horsley spent a decade on the White House beat, covering both the Trump and Obama administrations. Before that, he was a San Diego-based business reporter for NPR, covering fast food, gasoline prices, and the California electricity crunch of 2000. He also reported from the Pentagon during the early phases of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Before joining NPR in 2001, Horsley worked for NPR Member stations in San Diego and Tampa, as well as commercial radio stations in Boston and Concord, New Hampshire. Horsley began his professional career as a production assistant for NPR’s Morning Edition.

Horsley earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and an MBA from San Diego State University. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Irene McKisson spent 18 years in local news at the Arizona Daily Star where she started as a sports designer and copy editor and became the General Manager of Niche Audience Development, co-founding and editing #ThisIsTucson. She is a past ONA speaker and member of the Women’s Leadership Accelerator cohort; a participant and speaker in Google News Initiative programs including the Google Audience Lab, GNI Innovation Challenge and GNI Startup Boot Camp with LION; she is a GNI fellow in the 2022 class of the Media Transformation Challenge at Poynter and among the recipients of a 2019 Tow Center for Digital Journalism research grant. She is an adjunct instructor at the University of Arizona, a mother, reader, baker and AP Style nerd. She was born in Tucson and plans to stay forever.

Manuel Coppola has spent most of his career with Wick Communications since joining the Nogales International, his hometown newspaper, in 1985 where he later became the managing editor and publisher.

After a short stint as publisher of the Sierra Vista Herald, in September 2017, he was named Director of Legislative Affairs for Wick Communications as well as publisher of the Nogales International and the Tucson Daily Territorial.

Coppola’s corporate role is to track legislation unfavorable to the newspaper industry and the First Amendment in general in any of Wick’s 21 markets. He served two terms as president of the Arizona Newspapers Association and for more than a decade, has been actively involved on behalf of Wick Communications in battling bills at the Arizona State Legislature that threaten to hinder publication of public/legal notices – which are critical for government transparency and an important source of revenue for community newspapers.

He is a longtime board member of the Santa Cruz Community Foundation, the Nogales Rotary Club and serves as a board member of the Santa Cruz Training Programs for people with disabilities, an organization his mother founded in 1968. During his off hours, he has volunteered at the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen on Tucson’s south side; is an avid “bell ringer” for the Salvation Army; and he and his wife Irene serve as a translators for the Flying Samaritans during missions to Baja California, Mexico.

His oldest son is a graduate of Coppola’s alma mater, Northern Arizona University, is a reserve in the U.S. Navy and works in the defense industry. Coppola’s middle son graduated from the University of Arizona with a political science degree, was recently honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy and is back at the UA studying Spanish and Portugues. His youngest son pursued a career in newspapers that ultimately helped him secure a leadership position in a tech upstart that processes public notices for publications throughout the United States.

Local journalism is a passion for Manuel, who enjoys sharing his knowledge, skills and experience with young people. “It is heartening to come across college juniors and seniors who still find journalism to be a noble pursuit despite the industry’s many challenges,” he said of the numerous interns who have cut their teeth at the Nogales International over the years and gone on to fulfilling careers.

Lou grew up in Tucson and has a long family history in the state of Arizona. He began his public radio career in 1988 at KNAU in Flagstaff as a classical music DJ and has been hooked on public radio since, transitioning to news after trying his hand at several other careers in publishing and commercial broadcasting. Lou has a degree in American Studies from Arizona State University and was KAWC’s Morning Edition host for two and half years before becoming News and Operations Director.

Dylan Smith is the Editor and Co-Publisher of the Tucson Sentinel, a pioneering nonprofit local independent online news organization.

He was the founding chairman of Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, organizing a group of publishers of local news outlets across the country that is now about 500 strong. He’s a former president of the Arizona Press Club, and a member of the national Ethics Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists.

He’s won numerous state and national awards and accolades for breaking news and investigative journalism, including the Sledgehammer Award from the Arizona Press Club, and was named a Brechner Reporting Fellow at the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida, which supports his work pursuing in-depth journalism about government secrecy, and a Guggenheim Justice Reporting Fellow at the Center on Media, Crime and Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, supporting his reporting on police cover-ups and justice reform efforts.

He is a longtime member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, where he serves on the Member Services Committee, an active member within the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Society of Professional Journalists and American Copy Editors Society, as well as a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, National Press Photographers Association, and an ally member of the National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and Indigenous Journalists Association.

Prior to founding the Sentinel, he was the Online Editor for the Tucson Citizen, until that newspaper was shut down by Evil Corporate Overlords.

An experienced designer and programmer, he served as an Invited Expert on the World Wide Web Consortium’s HTML Working Group, helping to write the latest specification for the language that runs the Internet.

He was the Executive Director of The Quintessential Stage, a nonprofit theatre company, and Editor and Publisher of ¿K? Magazine, an arts and culture monthly, in the 1990s.

He comes from a long line of journalists; his great-grandfather began work as a reporter fresh from high school in 1900. His family published the Wheaton (Ill.) Daily Journal for nearly 50 years. His grandfather was also an editor and publisher, his grandmother a copyeditor and typesetter, his parents published an alternative newspaper in the 1960s and ‘70s, and his father was a correspondent for the United Farm Workers newspaper El Malcriado.

Despite his long heritage in print journalism, he’s a firm believer in the power of the Internet to inform and inspire like no other medium for reporting.

Associate Editor – The Patagonia Regional Times

Nisa S. Talavera is a dynamic leader with over a decade of experience driving operational excellence, team collaboration, and program management across nonprofit and editorial sectors. As the Associate Editor at Patagonia Regional Times, Nisa expertly manages the publication’s daily operations, focusing on community-driven news, coordinating citizen journalists, managing content creation, and overseeing daily production schedules. Her strategic financial planning has been instrumental in doubling the organization’s budget over the last four years, while her operational insights have streamlined workflows, ensuring timely and impactful content delivery.

Nisa’s ability to blend creative problem-solving with rigorous operational management has enhanced the publication’s digital presence, increasing engagement and reader growth. Beyond journalism, Nisa co-founded Child Health and Resilience Mastery (CHARM), a nonprofit supporting children facing adversity focused in Santa Cruz County, AZ, and successfully owned and operated Hacienda Corona De Guevavi, a historic ranch and hospitality venue in Southern Arizona. Nisa’s passion for fostering informed, connected communities through local journalism is at the heart of her work. Her commitment to sustaining the community through local news embodies a mission to inform and connect, ensuring every story resonates with heart and purpose.