What happens when local news disappears, misinformation spreads like wildfire, AI is rewriting the rules of journalism, and polarization continues to thrive? Those are the questions at the heart of this episode of The Space In Between. My guest, noted media executive Emily Parkhurst, has spent two decades in journalism and leadership, and she brings a perspective that is both candid and deeply hopeful. We talk about the evolving media landscape—what’s changing, why it matters, and how it shapes our culture and politics. We explore why local journalism is so vital to healthy communities, how business models can distort what we see, and why bringing a women’s lens to news and analysis changes everything. And perhaps most importantly, we talk about how listening—real listening—can help bridge divides in an era of fragmentation.
Meet Emily Parkhurst: Journalist, Leader, Builder
Emily has worn many hats in her career. She was editor-in-chief and then publisher of the Puget Sound Business Journal, where she helped make it the most profitable business journal in the country. Later, she became a top executive at 6AM City, a venture-backed media startup, where she tripled the business and launched 20 new local news outlets across the country.
Today, she leads Formidable, a news and media platform that offers sharp, in-depth analysis through a women’s lens. She also hosts a podcast of the same name, and is known for her remarkable gift of bringing diverse leaders together in community. Emily is one of those people who, when she says, “Get on the bus,” you just get on—because something good always happens.
The Shifting Media Landscape
Emily paints a vivid picture of how media has changed in just the last decade. Not so long ago, most of us got our news from a handful of sources—perhaps a local newspaper, the evening news, and maybe a trusted radio station. Today? News is everywhere, all the time: push notifications light up our phones, social media feeds overflow with hot takes, memes, and opinion masquerading as fact, and podcasts and newsletters deliver niche analysis for every possible audience.
The upside: there’s no shortage of information. The downside: it’s overwhelming, often inaccurate, and highly fragmented. “It never stops,” Emily says. “News is coming at us constantly, and the business models that used to support professional journalism are collapsing.”
What Happens When Local Journalism Disappears
One of the most sobering parts of our conversation is the loss of local newsrooms. Entire cities—some with hundreds of thousands of residents—no longer have a daily paper. That means no one is covering school board meetings, zoning decisions, or city budgets.
Without that accountability, Emily warns, misinformation fills the void. National outlets may swoop in with sensational headlines about crime or decline, but they miss the local nuance. Social media influencers may stoke outrage, but they don’t fact-check. And communities are left without the trustworthy coverage they need to make sense of their own lives.
“All news is local at the end of the day,” Emily reminds us. “If nobody’s covering your city council, you may not know your property taxes are about to go up—or why.”
Business Models and the Blurring of Lines
Traditional journalism once held a clear divide between editorial and advertising—what Emily calls a “church and state” separation. Reporters pursued truth; ad teams sold space. Today, that line has blurred, especially in the world of social media. Content is optimized for clicks, engagement, and outrage. Algorithms don’t care about truth; they care about keeping you scrolling.
“The problem,” Emily explains, “is that now, the ad side knows exactly what content is being created, and they can sell against it. That’s when you see products or services targeted in ways that are sometimes predatory.”
But she also points to hopeful trends: media companies turning to live events as sustainable revenue streams, and platforms like Formidable pioneering content as a service, helping organizations tell real stories with transparency and disclosure.
AI, SEO, and the Next Frontier
We couldn’t have this conversation without talking about AI. Already, Emily notes, there’s “a mountain of crap on the internet” generated by AI tools—much of it confidently wrong. Search engines now serve AI summaries instead of directing users to original reporting, devastating the old SEO-driven model that many digital outlets relied on.
Her warning is simple: “Don’t trust AI blindly. It spits things out with authority it hasn’t earned.”
That doesn’t mean AI has no role in media—it does. But Emily urges caution. Journalism at its best is not about speed; it’s about sense-making. It’s about asking, Does this actually add up? And that’s something no algorithm can replace.
Why a Women’s Lens Matters
One of the most inspiring parts of our conversation is Emily’s commitment to amplifying women’s voices. During her time at the Business Journal, she noticed something startling: week after week, men pitched op-eds and columns. Women almost never did.
“They’d tell my reporters, ‘I’m not really the right person—go talk to Joe,’” Emily recalls. “Even when they were absolutely the expert.”
Formidable flips that dynamic by centering women experts and audiences. The goal is depth. Women bring different questions, different approaches to problem-solving, and different lived experiences than men; not always but, most often. The result is richer, more nuanced journalism that better reflects the world we actually live in.
Bridging Divides: Listening and Questions
Beyond media, our conversation turns to leadership in polarized times. Emily’s leadership style—whether guiding a newsroom, brokering a merger between colleges, or negotiating with unions—has been shaped by her years as a journalist. At its core: listening.
“You can’t just say ‘my door is always open,’” she explains. “You have to actually invite people in. You have to go out of your way to seek perspectives, especially from those who won’t naturally speak up.”
In a fractured world, listening is radical. It’s also essential. It doesn’t mean agreeing with everything you hear. It means being curious enough to ask questions, patient enough to sit with complexity, and humble enough to know you don’t have all the answers.
Emily’s Wish for the Future
If she had a magic wand—or better yet, a Gandalf-like staff—Emily’s wish would be simple but profound: that we all approach information more like journalists.
That means being open to challenge. Staying curious. Asking harder questions. And being willing to sit with the discomfort of perspectives that don’t mirror our own.
“It’s hard work,” she admits. “It means being vulnerable. But that’s also where the power lies. If we want to bridge divides, we have to be willing to go there.”
Final Reflections
The media may be in flux. But as Emily shows us, we still have agency. We can choose to support outlets that value depth over outrage. We can choose to slow down, verify, and listen. And we can choose to create communities—online and offline—that are grounded in curiosity and connection, not division.
👉 Learn more about Emily’s work at Formidable and check out her podcast for even more thoughtful conversations.
