More than 1,800 US newspapers have closed since 2004, leaving expanding "news deserts" with little or no local reporting on public affairs, researchers said in a report Monday.
The study by the University of North Carolina School of Media and Journalism, an update of a 2016 paper, found that more than one-fifth of local dailies or weeklies had been shuttered in a decade and a half.
As a result, "thousands of our communities (are) at risk of becoming news deserts," the report said.
Half of the 3,143 counties in the United States now have only one newspaper, usually a small weekly, and almost 200 counties in the country have no newspaper at all.
"The people with the least access to local news are often the most vulnerable -- the poorest, least educated and most isolated," the report said.
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Add to that the fact that TV "news" has been "All Trump - All The Time" for going on three years now, with an occasional break for a school shooting; a plane crash; or a riot somewhere in the US.
ReplyDeleteIn the past few days the emphasis in reporting has been whether Warren is an Indian or not, and a decades-old hookup with a prostitute with the (now) President of the United States.
Meanwhile, 10's of thousands Americans are seriously coping with a hurricane disaster, and there is extremely little reportage on that life-threatening event.
As much as it hurts me to say this, the best worldwide unbiased news available to Americans nowadays comes from the BBC - and even Al Jazeera.
We already have one in da 'Bury.
ReplyDeleteWith the availability of a multitude of news sites on the internet, I’m sure that anyone can find more accurate, real news sites that will provide more reliable news than would some local or regional newspaper owned by some major outlet owned and operated by Marxist liberals.
ReplyDeleteThey are just worried that their propaganda machine can't reach them.
ReplyDeleteHow can people be brainwashed if they can't get the Washington Post or the Times?
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, and it really wasn't that long ago, The Daily Times provided a genuine service and provided timely information on national and international news. In addition it provided a lot of information about happenings around the town.
It began to skid under Thompson, and the decline accelerated dramatically under Gannett. It's unlikely The Baltimore Sun or its liberal parent company can reverse the slide, or that they actually give a hoot. The Daily Times was purchased as an outlet for what they want to spew, not as a source that is in sync or responsive to local perspectives.
The internet has changed the game, but actually gathering and reporting actual news is still possible - but that is no longer their objective. Too bad.