WATCH: Pandemic in the Heartland

Share:
In partnership with:
June 10, 2020
by
Maryann Lazarski
Scottie Lee Meyers

A small dairy community in the northwest part of Wisconsin recorded zero cases of COVID-19. Despite that, the virus hit the city of Loyal hard.

As part of the Local Journalism Initiative for FRONTLINE, Milwaukee PBS and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel present Pandemic in the Heartland, a look at how small business owners and dairy farmers coped with a coronavirus shutdown, on the heels of years of depressed dairy and agriculture prices.

Read: Slammed By the Dairy Crisis, Shuttered By the Coronavirus, Small Towns Forge Ahead

It’s something this tight-knit community has never faced before. And now they wonder if they will ever fully recover.

This story is part of a collaboration with Milwaukee PBS through FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 

Maryann Lazarski, Milwaukee PBS

Scottie Lee Meyers, Milwaukee PBS

The Trust Project Journalistic Standards

In order to foster a civil and literate discussion that respects all participants, FRONTLINE has the following guidelines for commentary. By submitting comments here, you are consenting to these rules:

Readers' comments that include profanity, obscenity, personal attacks, harassment, or are defamatory, sexist, racist, violate a third party's right to privacy, or are otherwise inappropriate, will be removed. Entries that are unsigned or are "signed" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. We reserve the right to not post comments that are more than 400 words. We will take steps to block users who repeatedly violate our commenting rules, terms of use, or privacy policies. You are fully responsible for your comments.

blog comments powered by Disqus

More Stories

Preventive Measures Against COVID-19 In Wuhan
In Public, the World Health Organization Praised China’s Early COVID Response. In Private, They Had Concerns.
The Associated Press obtained leaked recordings of WHO internal meetings and shared them with FRONTLINE and the BBC; they are heard in the new documentary “China’s COVID Secrets.”
January 26, 2021
bob corker trump presidency
“We Take Our Democracy for Granted,” Says Bob Corker, Former GOP Senator and Trump Critic
Bob Corker, former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a sharp rebuke of President Trump and a strong warning to the American public in an interview with FRONTLINE.
January 26, 2021
charlottesville-led-to-capitol-riot-jan-6
‘Enabling It to Happen Again’: How Charlottesville Led to the Capitol Attack
A scene from the FRONTLINE documentary 'Trump’s American Carnage' shows how the 2017 Unite the Right rally and President Trump’s response foreshadowed Jan. 6, 2021.
January 26, 2021
Max Malm
'It's a Very Tough Job': In Rural Wisconsin, a Struggle to Save Family Farms and a Way of Life
Spend a few hours listening to people who live in Clark County, Wisconsin, and you hear a lot about what’s ailing small farms. But you also hear about the community ties and independence that keep them in farming.
January 25, 2021
Show more

Next on Frontline

In January 2020, a worker in a protective suit is seen at the Huanan Seafood Market, thought to have been the initial epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China.

China's COVID Secrets

February 2, 2021
The untold story of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and how China responded.