This project examines how editors at weekly newspapers in Appalachian Ohio approach covering environmental issues. A survey assessed how serious editors perceived 20 environmental issues to be in their communities and also inquired about how easy they believed writing about such issues would be, how often they have done so, and what internal and external pressures they felt might make covering the environment more difficult. A yearlong content analysis of 10 newspapers verified their reliance upon official sources and found that environmental news was 6.5 percent of total news. Personal interviews with those editors gave insight to their work challenges and indicated strong routinization and third-person effect against governmental influence of editorial content. While editors said their newspapers roles were important in informing readers on environmental issues, the study found their ability to do so and past performance were poor.