Since 2005, the country has lost more than a fourth of its newspapers (2,500) and is on track to lose a third by 2025. An average of more than two a week are disappearing. Newspapers are continuing to vanish at a rapid rate. This Medill Local News Initiative report documents the state of local news in this country, post-COVID-19, focusing on the health of both local newspapers and digital sites. There is an urgent need to not only arrest the continuing decline in local newspapers, but also revive local journalism in those communities without it.Īn earlier report by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communication examined the challenges confronting local journalism in democracies around the world. This is very much an industry in transition, with much at stake. Understanding what is working and where there are still gaps in the flow of reliable and timely news and information helps individuals and organizations devise solutions to rebuild and sustain local journalism in those communities that, so far, have been overlooked by entrepreneurs and potential funders. Commercial broadcast and public media have not been able to fill the void. Even so, the decline in local newspapers continued, while digital alternatives, once seen as the savior, remain nonexistent in most communities that have lost a newspaper. Timely interventions-backed by a combination of for-profit, nonprofit and public dollars-averted the demise of many news organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. And many newspapers and digital organizations are adapting and finding success, especially in larger markets or affluent communities, where there are more funding options. Government officials are considering new regulations and public subsidies to address the issue. Philanthropic donors, as well as venture capitalists, are funding more journalistic endeavors. Troubled by the potential consequences, journalists, policymakers, philanthropists, industry executives, scholars and concerned citizens have stepped up efforts to save local news. This is a crisis for our democracy and our society. In communities without a credible source of local news, voter participation declines, corruption in both government and business increases, and local residents end up paying more in taxes and at checkout. The loss of local journalism has been accompanied by the malignant spread of misinformation and disinformation, political polarization, eroding trust in media, and a yawning digital and economic divide among citizens. Invariably, the economically struggling, traditionally underserved communities that need local journalism the most are the very places where it is most difficult to sustain either print or digital news organizations. This is a nation increasingly divided journalistically, between those who live and work in communities where there is an abundance of local news and those who don’t.
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