Work Samples
Sara Konrad Baranowski has been reporting the news since 2000, covering everything from city council meetings and school assemblies, to presidential campaign rallies and the red carpet reopening of a small-town movie theater complete with an A-list movie star. She’s received more than 25 state and national awards for her news and feature writing, investigative reporting, editorials, slideshows, videography and radio reporting.
news Reporting
Asylum Denied: After years of waiting, former interpreter learns his application has been denied (May 2021)
County disables Zoom private chat function (September 2020)
State ‘problem’ has skewed COVID data for months (August 2020)
I Pay How Much? Rural cities, schools balance services, taxes (August 2019)
The future of babies at Hansen Family Hospital (September 2018)
County supervisors failed to document most meetings (June 2018)
Farm bureau survey raises conservationists’ concerns (May 2017)
City officials want proposed nursing home project details (April 2015)
Night to Remember: Met Theatre reopens with grand downtown event (September 2013)
Buried Alive: Rescuers, helmet, luck credited with saving man (June 2013)
Out in the Wash: Flood map mistake means property owners pay more (May 2012)
Surveying city property investigation Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 (October 2008)
Feature writing
The Preservationist: Bradford Music Hall marries local man’s passion for history, music (August 2021)
Lost and Found Part 1 and Part 2 (September 2018)
Personal Archive: Making space for memories (July 2017)
Lost in Translation Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 (March 2017)
Where Friends Meet (September 2016)
The Fine Print (July 2016)
Living in the Light (November 2014)
Getting on with Life Part 1 and Part 2 (May 2008)
Collaborative Reporting
Child Care in Iowa (February 2019)
This was a collaboration of the Iowa Falls Times Citizen, Carroll Times Herald, Southeast Iowa Union and Cedar Rapids Gazette to tell the story of the struggle for families to find and communities to provide child care, especially in rural areas.
Seeking a Cure: The quest to save rural hospitals (September 2019)
This was a collaborative project about the health of rural Midwest hospitals. It was led by the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and IowaWatch, KCUR, Bridge Magazine, Wisconsin Watch, Side Effects Public Media, The Conversation, Minnesota Public Radio, Iowa Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, The Gazette, Iowa Falls Times Citizen and N'west Iowa Review.
In Focus (Spring 2021)
This collaboration involved more than 50 reporters from more than 30 Iowa newspapers. It examined public access to police body camera and in-car camera video in Iowa.
Audience Engagement
You Ask, We Answer
Through a semi-regular feature in the Iowa Falls Times Citizen, I’ve answered readers’ questions about the news. When the news staff reports on a story that generates a lot of questions through social media, emails and phone calls to our office, I create a Google Form that invites readers to ask questions about the news. Reporters track the answers down and report a piece based on those questions and answers.
Re-Engaging the Right
In 2021, I worked with Trusting News on a project called “Re-Engaging the Right”. I distributed a survey to readers of the Iowa Falls Times Citizen who identified as conservative and based on the answers to that survey, I interviewed six people. Twenty-six other newspapers participated in the study, which sought to understand the lack of trust in media among conservatives. The results of the study were published by the University of Texas at Austin Center for Media Engagement. Trusting News also published results of the surveys and interviews.
Editorial Writing
Fixing River Road mess is not Iowa Falls’ responsibility (September 2019)
Hardin County should leave public comment policy as is (January 2019)
Ambulance decision leaves more questions than answers (December 2018)
Supervisors must be more transparent about meetings (June 2018)
Obey the spirit - not just the letter - of the law (March 2016)
Assessments were the wrong decision for Iowa Falls (November 2013)