Despite being made up of 423 counties spread over 13 states spanning 206,000 square miles from southern New York to northern Mississippi, the Appalachian region rarely has been understood by the national media and the federal government.

Never mind that nearly 27 million people live in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Unless you live in a large city in Appalachia, the news media struggle to show up or to report the story with cultural understanding.