Sunday, September 24, 2023

News Deserts

We’ve often considered the state of local journalism in this newsletter. This weekend, the Washington Post published an opinion piece on the issue called “Even $500 million isn’t enough to save local journalism.”

The dollar figure refers to the announcement by 22 donor organizations, including the Knight Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, that they are teaming up to provide more than $500 million to boost local news over five years — an effort called Press Forward.

The need is undeniable. According to Penny Abernathy at Northwestern, newspapers are closing at an average rate of more than two per week, and since 2005, more than one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have vanished.

According to her research, “The contraction has led to the proliferation of ‘news deserts’ — there are 200 counties, home to 70 million people, with no newspaper.”

These are some of the consequences:

  • Lower voter turnout.

  • Less political competition.

  • Declining civic engagement.

  • The rise of disinformation and conspiracy theories.

  • The erosion of public trust in government.

  • The overall decline of democracy.

To this I would add, the emergence of a Zombie Army, tragically, that supports an authoritarian for president.

HEADLINES:

 

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