Weekly 2 more newspapers close as 'news desert' grows
By Margaret Sullivan / The Washington Post
Penelope Muse Abernathy may be the nations foremost expert on what media researchers call news deserts. And shes worried.
News deserts are communities lacking a news source that provides meaningful and trustworthy local reporting on issues such as health, government and the environment. Its a vacuum that leaves residents ignorant of whats going on in their world, incapable of fully participating as informed citizens. Whats their local government up to? Who deserves their vote? How are their tax dollars being spent? All are questions that go unanswered in a news desert.
Local newspapers are hardly the only news sources that can do the job, but they are the ones that have traditionally filled that role. And they are disappearing.
One-third of American newspapers that existed roughly two decades ago will be out of business by 2025, according to research made public Wednesday from Northwestern Universitys Medill School, where Abernathy is a visiting professor.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/sullivan-weekly-2-more-newspapers-close-as-news-desert-grows/