KHOL Executive Director Emily Cohen started the event last year and sees it as a great opportunity to humanize reporters, especially in an era where trust for the media at large is a finely tethered contract.

“I do think our community appreciates our local media,” she said, “but this is a chance to show people the value in what we’re doing. A lot of stories are driven by journalists, but much of what we will be talking about at this event is that sometimes those stories are driven by listeners and readers. And that’s where the theme for this year, ‘Power to the People,’ comes in.”

“Power to the People” will showcase WyoFile reporter Mike Koshmrl, KHOL reporter Hanna Merzbach, Jackson Hole News&Guide reporter Billy Arnold, and photographers Kathryn Ziesig and Brad Boner of the Jackson Hole News&Guide.

Topics will range from the Jackson Hole government office opened by Tlaxcala, Mexico, from where many of the valley’s Latino workers hail, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, to the power citizens have via access to their elected officials and the importance of freedom of information for a democratic government.

“They’re each kind of tackling a different angle,” Cohen said. “Mike, for example, from WyoFile and formerly of the News&Guide, is going to be talking about access to elected officials in Wyoming. And then Billy is going to be talking about some examples locally of stories that he’s reported on that were from tips that residents and readers gave to him.”

Jackson’s continually evolving relationship with Tlaxcala, and the growing ties between families divided between the two locations, will be on the program. Merzbach reported on the immigration linkage on KHOL in December, bringing attention to the fact that 1,500 people from Tlaxcala are among Jackson Hole’s population, and shedding light on forthcoming plans for an immigrant resource center in town for Tlaxcaltecans.

“Jackson has the second highest number of Tlaxcaltecans, just behind New York, which is kind of amazing,” Cohen said.

Photojournalists Boner and Ziesig will address the visual side of reporting, presenting on local and statewide reactions — from the streets to the courtrooms — to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson (Mississippi) Women’s Health Organization, which overruled 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision that gave women the right to abortion.

“Hot off the Press” will run a little differently this year, with no livestreaming option and with the entire event taking place in the lobby of the Center for the Arts, creating more opportunities for discourse.

“We’ll have tables and chairs set up, and Jack [Catlin, KHOL’s music director] will be DJing on one end,” Cohen said. “We’ll have a stage, but we’re trying to make it an environment where there’s an opportunity for conversation.”

Cohen said last year’s turnout was a cross-section of the community and not just fellow journalists.

“This is for anyone who is curious and engaged,” she said.

Contact Tibby Plasse via 732-7078 or entertainment@jhnewsandguide.com.