“Crossroads of Change” and Media Reflections with Jim Painter
Coming From Left Field podcast published April 3, 2025
Warm Greetings All,
In this podcast, we have a discussion with Jim Painter, who spent 40 years in the newspaper business as a reporter and photojournalist and ended his career as managing editor of Phoenix’s West Valley View newspaper, published twice a week with a circulation of 80,000.
First, a disclosure: Jim and I attended high school together and then Eastern Illinois University. We lost touch after college but reconnected during the pandemic. He is a great fellow, a good friend, and knows a lot more about the topic we discussed than I.
Jim was one of the first guests on our podcast four years ago. We talked about the state of the media; its evolution, biases, and challenges. Today, we continued to discuss the media landscape that is controlled by a handful of conglomerates, shrinking independent outlets, staff cuts, dominance of Right-Wing consolidation, and declining revenues. But there may be a ray of hope with independent journalism, challenging the dominance of traditional newspapers, offering alternative perspectives, and better adapting to the digital age.
We also review Jim’s new book, “Crossroad of Change,” a collection of his photos from his time in the 1980s and 1990s when he chronicled the pivotal decade of growth and development in the Phoenix Southwest Valley. Jim is a remarkable photographer, not just when he was a newspaper photojournalist, but also today.
VIDEO | YouTube| iTunes | Podbean |
AUDIO | Spotify | Amazon |Pandora | iHeart | Podcaser |
I know that most people listen rather than watch most podcasts. I embedded a few pictures from his book in the video stream and also created a Google Photo Album with some photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6eNnK3EJrzUY97aK9
Also, you may want to visit Jim newer photos:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jim-painter
Peace,
Pat