Local News Is Dying, and It’s Taking Small Town America With It
Less than one-fifth of stories have anything to do with your city or neighborhood, carrying serious consequences for social cohesion, voting and even bonds.
Photographer: Kostas Tsironis/Bloomberg
America is overrun with “news deserts,” cities and towns where local coverage is lacking or altogether absent. As newspaper circulation continues to decline along with ad revenue and newsroom employment, a common casualty is the expensive, time-consuming practice of original reporting.
Without journalists digging through property records or attending city council meetings, looking for official wrongdoing and revealing secret deals, local politicians will operate unchecked—with predictable consequences. But the fallout is much bigger than just keeping municipal government honest.