TGIT! A longtime Washington Post columnist reveals why he quit... An employee at X decries the company's "lack of clarity" about the future... And James Gunn makes a big prediction about the new Man of Steel. Plus, the latest on Linda Yaccarino, WPP, Albany Times Union, OpenAI, The Economist, the Nelk Boys, and much more... |
Mapping America's local news shortage |
The loss of local news relates to so many other problems plaguing the US: Polarization, radicalization, loneliness, lack of trust in everyone and everything.
So it's vital to track the so-called "news deserts" — and recognize that these deserts exist not just in rural areas, but also in highly populated parts of the country.
According to a new report detailing "severe shortages" in local news, the number of journalists working in the US has dropped by more than 75% since the start of the century — from 40 journalists for every 100,000 residents to just 8.2 journalists now.
"Stunningly, more than 1,000 counties — one out of three — do not have the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist," Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack found. "And the ‘better off’ parts of the country are in lousy shape, too."
Overall, even as the US population continues to grow, the pool of journalists is shrinking, leaving local communities without relevant news coverage. The sharp declines translate to fewer stories being told at the local level. You can check out the Local Journalist Index for yourself here.
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'Left without the basic reporting' |
"Thousands of rural, urban and suburban communities are being left without the basic reporting they need to stay informed, connected and civically engaged," said Steven Waldman, the president of Rebuild Local News, who has led the charge on this issue for years.
Waldman said he hoped the new data "will help philanthropists target their funding; entrepreneurs spot opportunities; and local stakeholders better argue for public policy changes to help sustain local news." The policy changes advocated by Waldman's organization include tax incentives, government advertising, consumer subsidies and investment funds.
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Big differences between states |
Only 111 counties in the US — 4% of the total — "currently have at least as many local journalists as the national average from a generation ago," the report says.
Some states, however, are doing significantly better than others. Vermont has five times as many local journalists per capita as Nevada, according to the report — raising obvious questions about civic engagement and community building.
Vermont ranks highly "in part because major new publications such as the nonprofit Vermont Digger and Seven Days have helped fill some of the gaps and in part because few of the newspapers have been bought by private equity firms," the researchers concluded. Both Seven Days and VTDigger rely heavily on reader donations and other forms of direct support from residents.
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Linda Yaccarino lasted a lot longer as X CEO than most insiders |
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