Jacob Douglas covers rural issues including economic sustainability in small-town Missouri for Kansas City, PBS. Douglas covered education technology, renewable energy and rural life during internships with CNBC and Kansas City Public Television. He graduated with honors from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in the Spring of 2020. His most recent projects at the journalism school include leading a team of reporters seeking out much-needed information about COVID-19 in underreported areas in Southern Missouri and developing an arts and culture podcast for the J-School. He grew up in Dallas City, Illinois and got started in journalism by covering high school sports for the Hancock County Journal Pilot.
Beat: Rural issues in Missouri
The beat focuses on multimedia storytelling in rural parts of our 35-county coverage area that have not gotten our attention in recent years. Key topics include rural attitudes in an election year, the economic sustainability of small towns in rural America, issues of aging in rural America, the effects of climate change in rural areas, and growing signs of an emerging farm crisis.