Aubrey Ann Parker, Paula Freidrich, and Emily Votruba discuss

Aubrey Ann Parker, co-owner and editor of The Betsie Current newspaper, spent the morning of Thursday, April 9, 2026, at the 100.1 FM WUWU Community Radio station in Elberta with Emily Votruba of The Elberta Alert and Paula Freidrich, local freelancer.

The three women were invited to host the “What’s Up With You” Morning Show on WUWU for “Local News Day.”

Listen to the short interview below.

(Click above to play the short audio file.)

Local News Day is a national day of action and advocacy designed to reconnect communities with trusted local journalism. It highlights the essential role of local news in democracy by promoting community engagement through events, subscriptions, and support for local newsrooms. The first inaugural Local News Day was supported by organizations like Press Forward and the American Journalism Project with an aim to counter the decline of community news and its impact on democracy. The event asked local news agencies to use their local newspapers, radio, and television stations to connect with the community–there were more than 1,300 U.S. newsrooms participating.

Journalists were encouraged to ask the public the following questions:

1. “What is the one thing happening in this community that you wish someone was covering more closely?

2. “Where do you go first when you need to know what is going on locally?”

3. “Is there a local issue you feel like you are only getting one side of?”

4. “If you could sit down with one local leader and ask them anything, who would it be and what would you ask?”

5. “What would make you more likely to read, subscribe to, or support a local news outlet?”

Read more about WUWU Radio in this Q&A that published in our pages back in April 2025.

Featured Photo Caption: The Betsie Current‘s Aubrey Ann Parker (right) spent the morning of Thursday, April 9, at WUWU 100.1 Community Radio with Emily Votruba (left) of The Elberta Alert and Paula Freidrich (center), a local freelancer.