Eighteen-year-old Austin Martin is an Excelsior Springs High School senior who recently made posters to celebrate the importance of local news outlets. He shared his thoughts on the representation of local news reporting. Martin explained that each poster displays different aspects of local newspapers, such as those that move away from home and utilize the paper as a way to stay connected, as well as the other people represented in a community. “I feel like local newspapers are so important because they hone everything down to where you are instead of everything else going on around you,” he said. “Me, watching bigger news media broadcasts, I tend to get more overwhelmed with information from other countries.” He noted local news can make people feel more at home, such as catching up on local football games, and can relax the anxiety some people experience with bigger things occurring in the world around them. Martin also portrayed that local news is essential in his posters…