♪ >> We're now inside the beautiful majestic historic Alhambra theater here in Hopkinsville.

This is a glorious 650 seat performing arts center.

Lots happening here.

We are having camp here for the week while we've been here and I had the pleasure of talking with Jennifer Brown, who is the co-founder editor and publisher of the Hop Town Chronicle.

It's Good to have you.

Thank you.

I'm glad you're here.

>> I love this setting.

This is just in this place has energy and it's alive and colorful.

And it just gives so much to this community.

It's beautiful.

And if you lived here for a long time is on him.

>> You have many layers of experiences here.

I saw Star Wars in this movie theater.

My children performed here, you know, in plays and a And now, you know, we have some musicians who come here and we try to come to all the shows.

What we encourage folks to make the drive to see it because it is certainly something to see while usually on Wednesday as we talk with Rylan Barden about political happenings and midweek.

But we wanted to take the opportunity to be here.

>> Since we're here to speak with you about Hopkinsville, the Hop town Chronicle and the reason why your paper or what the purpose is and what void it's filling.

Sure.

>> I was in print journalism for 30 years at a Kentucky new era.

I was the editor there and the opinion editor in the last several years when I laughed in 2016, it was not intended to be a retirement from journalism.

But I will also admit I didn't have a definite plan about what was going to do.

And so, you know, wife 50 gap here, McCain to gap years and I was seriously underemployed, but I was the conferences and doing some pretty Lansing.

And I just had this little idea that there was something significant happening in downtown Hopkinsville that there was a true revival happening that people are talked about for years.

But now it seemed to be happening.

And so in the fall of 2018, there were signs going up all over downtown about a real estate auction.

And these were going to be 12 or properties that belong to sort of the last great merchant class family in Hopkinsville who used to own the Big Department when downtown was stabbing.

And so I went to that option and I took notes.

Interview.

People took photos.

Not really knowing what I was going to do with this story.

And it went home and wrote a story and created a Facebook page and just sort of asked the community.

Are you interested in more stories like this and so we've sort of experiment farm a few months and then a former colleague of mine.

Contacted me and she wanted to help build a website and she advise me to create a nonprofit.

So Mark, my former new era colleague who now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Julia Hunter is our engagement editor.

And she really made all of those things One, that's what started my in my inbox.

You know, I get the newsletter.

I get the out.

What is it called the day police can to daily scoop.

I get that and I read that every.

>> Every time it comes out.

And so it really helps inform those who of a sewer several 100 miles away are hundreds of miles away to know what's happening here because you do a tremendous job.

And it's interesting because where we are is a good 3 hour.

Plus drive from the center of Power in Frankfort.

And I'm curious about how people here feel about that disconnection.

>> I've been aware of that disconnection all my life.

I was born in Memphis.

But my family came here when I was 4 years old.

And I think that Western Kentucky INS have off has for a long time.

May be ignored at times or not really in the loop there are many reasons for that distance is one of them we are geographically different from eastern Kentucky.

We're not big.

You know, a horse farm country.

We are the grain farm country.

And also we're connected to the national in a way that other people in Kentucky are not so.

We really have to work to stay informed about what's going on in state government.

And that's part of Pop town chronicles mission because we have partnerships with other nonprofit newsrooms and Kentucky Public radio be able to publish stories about what's going on in Frankfort.

>> On Monday night, you're with us.

Our remotely here in Hopkinsville as we talked about the state of the news media and a comment you made, I really struck me about how many people may feel like Nashville as the state Capitol riot, western Kentucky, western because that's the news that you're saying, right?

And and hopefully the hop town Chronicle is helping to KET people with all the different partners.

You have informed.

Do you feel like people steal a tighter connection to the inner workings of state government in Kentucky because of what you're doing.

>> It's hard for me to say.

I certainly hope So, yeah.

And you're going to KET doing it.

Yes, I'm you know, I'm one of one of my own.

I guess a joke is that when I say we we as a big word for an uptown Chronicle, we only have to pay to employees.

And so there's a lot of room for growth.

But you know, you don't know what you don't know when you start something and I've learned so much.

But we have the potential for a lot of growth.

Yes, we're still very young, right?

Right.

>> But you've done some great storytelling and have been here when they're when disaster struck when the community has needed to be informed.

And that's what local journalism is all about.

And many ways and accountability, but also connecting people to information that they need to help their daily lives.

>> We were less than a year old when the pandemic hit.

And what I imagined Hop town chronicles coverage being suddenly changed in a big way.

Yeah.

we were very dedicated to a daily update of what was going on with the virus.

Here and in the state so that that was important to the community.

I think a mile.

>> Hopped on Chronicle.

KET on keeping on Jennifer Brown.

It's always good to speak with you.

and we'll be seeing you again on Kentucky tonight again on Monday night.

So we're so glad you're here.

Thank you.