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The Power of Local News

Keeping Our Community Informed and Engaged

Join distinguished journalists Laura Bischoff, Amy Juravich, & Kurt Ludlow for a moderated discussion on how local journalism works and why it matters to our community and democracy.

Join journalists from local print, television, and radio news organizations for a discussion about reporting with accuracy, earning public trust, covering local government and community issues, and why strong local news helps support an informed and engaged democracy.

Panelists

Laura Bischoff: 

Laura Bischoff covers politics and state government for the USA TODAY Co Network Ohio bureau. Her work appears in the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository and other newspapers across Ohio. She covers public pensions, prisons, public corruption and the criminal justice system.

She was named best investigative journalist by the Associated Press in Ohio in 2020. She led the team that won the 2024 Scripps Howard Award for Local/Regional Investigative reporting for a project that examined conditions inside Ohio's juvenile prisons and detention centers. She was the lead reporter on Vicious, an investigation into how Ohio's dangerous dog laws fail victims. In 2025, Vicious led state officials to update the law for the first time in more than a decade. Vicious won the Batten Medal from the Poynter Institute.

Bischoff is a University of Michigan graduate. Go Blue!

Amy Juravich:

Amy Juravich is the Host and Executive Producer of All Sides with Amy Juravich on 89.7 NPR News. All Sides is WOSU Public Media’s daily news program that dives deep into issues important to Central Ohio. Listen to the show live weekdays from 10am to Noon and repeating from 8pm to 10pm and find All Sides wherever you get your podcasts.

Prior to hosting All Sides, Amy worked in WOSU radio programming. She served as Radio Program Director and Midday Host on 89.7, NPR News. Amy also worked for WOSU as radio promotions producer, radio membership drive producer, and talk show board operator/audio director.

Amy joined WOSU Public Media in 2007. She began her career in public radio at WDUQ-FM (a Pittsburgh NPR news station) and worked in Tallahassee, Florida as a reporter for WFSU-FM and Florida Public Radio covering capital news for the state.

She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from Duquesne University with a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in English. Amy also attended Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs earning a Masters in Public Administration with a focus in nonprofit management.

Amy lives in Clintonville with her husband, daughter, and son.

Kurt Ludlow:

Kurt Ludlow is one of Central Ohio’s most trusted and familiar voices in local news, and he’s proud to be part of the ABC 6/FOX 28 family. Viewers can catch him anchoring Good Day Columbus alongside Katie McKee on weekday mornings from 4:25 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

A dedicated journalist with a passion for storytelling, Kurt is known for his sharp news instincts, deep commitment to community service, and reputation for integrity both on and off the air.

Kurt’s career has taken him from Duluth, Minnesota, to Portland, Oregon, and ultimately back to Columbus, where he has called Central Ohio home since 2003. With more than three decades of experience as a reporter and anchor, his work has been recognized with numerous Associated Press and Emmy awards, as well as a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association.

He earned his journalism degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and later received a law degree from Capital University Law School in Columbus.

Outside the newsroom, Kurt is a proud father to twin daughters, Miranda and Abigail, and a happy grandfather to four grandsons. He shares life with his wife, Laura, their two rescue dogs, Blue and Winnie, a porch-dwelling feral cat named Betty, and even a 72-gallon saltwater reef tank.

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