Meg Anderson

But then also, like, what I'm experiencing here is the experience that, like, local reporters have, right?

Like, this is, like, the definition of being a local reporter is that you're reporting on your own community and where really bad things happen, like,

It's your own community.

So I want to acknowledge that.

And there's been really amazing local reporting happening here.

And I do think there's also an element of worrying or feeling like the national spotlight is going to drift away at some point.

And I've been thinking a lot about that lately, how...

you know, you think about those really awful floods that happened in Texas last year or California wildfires, you know, any of these huge disasters that like upend a person's life, often they go on after the national media goes away.

I worry and I can feel how that might happen here where it's like, oh, but like people's lives here are going to be

Forever.

Like, I think the way that I approach...

with people who are going to tell me about something that directly happened to them, about them being approached by ICE or detained or how they're staying at home or whatever.

I think I'm approaching all of that with the same philosophies that I always have of just being really gentle with people and spending time with them.

But I do think there's a level of

Like commiseration that's happening, right?

Where I'm like, yeah, I live here too.

I understand, right?

Yep, I live right over there.

Or I know exactly the place that you're talking about.

Or yeah, that happened to a friend of mine too.