Welcome to "On Assignment," I'm Marianne Keller. And today I'm stepping into the host chair temporarily. Don't worry, Liz and Gath will be back before you know it.

In this supplemental episode, we're delving into a topic that's reshaping communities across the country, usually for the worse: the growing crisis of news deserts. These aren't places with no people, but rather communities where residents have very limited access to reliable, local news and information.

It's a complex problem, and understanding it is crucial for anyone who cares about their community and the health of our democracy.

Let's start with what a news desert is. A news desert, simply, is an area that lacks consistent coverage from local news organizations.

This can mean a community has no local newspaper at all, or maybe just one small outlet trying to cover everything in a large area.

Sometimes, newspapers that used to be strong have become what are called "ghost newspapers" – they still exist, but they have very few journalists and can't really cover their communities well anymore.

The numbers show just how widespread this is. Since 2005, the United States has lost more than 3,200 print newspapers. That's a huge loss, meaning the country now has lost over a third of its newspapers compared to 2005, according to The State of Local News from Northwestern's Local News Initiative. Many of these lost papers were small, rural weeklies, leaving those communities with no reliable local news source.

The decline isn't just about the paper itself; it's about the people who reported the news. According to The State of Local News 2024 report, over 266,000 newspaper jobs have vanished since 2005, which is a 73% decline. More specifically, newsroom jobs like reporters and editors saw a loss of over 45,000 positions in that time, a drop of over 60%. By 2023, newspaper employment fell below 100,000 jobs nationally. As the 2023 report highlights, this means thousands of stories at the local and state levels are simply not being told anymore.

So, why does this matter so much? When local news disappears or shrinks significantly, it causes real damage to communities.

First, there's a loss of crucial information. Local newspapers traditionally provided most of the "critical information" people need about things like schools, health, local government, and infrastructure. When papers are gone or hollowed out into "ghosts," this vital information is lost. A study by Duke University of mid-sized communities found that less than 12% of local news stories actually met the criteria of being local, original, and covering a critical need. Some communities in their study had not a single locally produced news story in any outlet over a full week.

Second, government accountability suffers. As the Columbia Journalism Review and others have pointed out, newspapers often serve as watchdogs over local officials and institutions. With fewer reporters covering town hall meetings or looking into public records, local powerholders face less scrutiny. This lack of oversight can lead to corruption, inefficiency, and decisions being made without the public knowing why or how. Research cited in "The Loss of Local News" report found that when newspapers pull back coverage, voter participation declines, and government efficiency decreases, sometimes leading to higher taxes. The Charleston Post and Courier's "Uncovered" project, described in a Nieman Lab article, specifically aims to combat corruption in news deserts by partnering with local papers to investigate abuses of power.

The impacts go even further. The absence of local news can lead to citizens being less informed, lower voter turnout, and less participation in local civic life. It can also contribute to increased political polarization, often shifting focus to national issues rather than local ones.

It's also important to recognize that this crisis doesn't affect everyone equally. As both Northwestern and the Columbia Journalism Review have found in their research, the decline in local news is hitting certain communities harder, particularly poorer communities, rural areas, and communities with larger Hispanic/Latino and Black populations. The Northwestern 2024 report notes that 206 counties currently have no news source, and another 1,561 have only one, meaning almost 55 million people in the U.S. have limited to no access to local news. Almost 55 million people! Many of these communities are poorer, older, and less educated than the national average. The Columbia Journalism Review's report on media policy points out that communities of color and less affluent areas have historically been underserved and are now among the most vulnerable to news cuts and closures. A study of the Philadelphia media market, reported by Nieman Lab, found that the news system there underserves communities with lower income and education levels, creating a gap in meeting their critical information needs. Research on forecasting news deserts also found that the percentage of Black and Hispanic populations in a county had negative associations with the number of newspapers, though this varied by market size.

Filling the void left by disappearing local news is challenging. While new models are emerging, like digital-only sites, ethnic media outlets, and public broadcasting, they often face hurdles. The Northwestern 2024 report indicates that many digital startups are concentrated near large cities, leaving gaps in rural and less affluent areas. Ethnic media outlets, vital for diverse communities, also struggle with financial sustainability and reaching audiences who may lack reliable internet access. A report from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media notes that while the number of journalists at digital sites and TV stations has increased, it hasn't made up for the loss in newspapers, leading to a net loss of journalists overall.

However, there are promising efforts underway. These include:

Philanthropic Support: Organizations like the American Journalism Project and Report for America are funding journalist positions. Major philanthropic initiatives like Press Forward are committing significant funds, though I will caution listeners that this isn't enough to replace lost advertising revenue.

Nonprofit Models: Some struggling newspapers are transitioning to nonprofit status, like The Salt Lake Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer. This allows them to seek philanthropic and community support. The Nieman Lab at Harvard found that employees at local newspapers are increasingly intrigued by the nonprofit model's potential. The Chicago Sun-Times' transition to a nonprofit under Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) is as an ambitious example of combining public radio and a newspaper newsroom.

Policy Interventions: There's growing discussion about how media policy can help. Ideas include direct funding, tax credits for hiring journalists or local advertising, or redirecting government advertising budgets to local media. Some states, like New Jersey and California, are already experimenting with direct funding or fellowship programs. A Columbia Journalism Review piece by Steven Waldman outlined various proposals, such as making it easier for newspapers to convert to nonprofit status, expanding the role and funding of public media, and even offering loan forgiveness for journalists working in local nonprofit news.

Community-Centered Approaches: There is a wide agreement among researchers, academics, news organization and the public that the need to support news organizations that truly center their communities, especially those that have been historically underserved. Community-centered ethnic media outlets use accessible formats like text messages and have a bottom-up approach to meet audience needs, proving effective in increasing civic engagement among Latino communities. Investing in public and community media is seen by some experts according to the Columbia Journalism Review as crucial, noting the U.S. underfunds this sector compared to other countries.

New Ownership Models: Efforts like the National Trust for Local News acquiring groups of papers and converting them to nonprofits are emerging as potential models for sustainability, particularly for rural newsrooms.

However, implementing these solutions faces significant challenges. As the Columbia Journalism Review highlighted in a recent report, there's resistance to government intervention due to fears of compromising journalistic independence. There's also the issue of ensuring support reaches the communities that need it most, rather than just propping up larger, struggling legacy outlets. The power of Big Tech platforms like Google and Facebook, who dominate digital advertising and content distribution, remains a major factor, one that policy makers have been hesitant to fully address.

Many experts and researchers agree on the urgency of the situation. As Victor Pickard put it in a Columbia Journalism Review piece, the crisis facing local news is a clear case of "systemic market failure," and policy interventions are needed because the market alone won't support the level of journalism required for a healthy democracy. While the challenges are significant, there's a sense that the conversation is shifting, and once-unthinkable ideas are now being seriously considered.

The expansion of news deserts is a dire problem with serious consequences for communities and democracy itself, disproportionately affecting already vulnerable populations. Addressing it requires a multi-faceted approach, combining philanthropic support, new business models, and policy changes, while ensuring that emerging solutions prioritize the information needs of all residents and support diverse, community-centered journalism. The time to act, before the damage becomes irreparable, is now.

That's all for this supplemental episode of "On Assignment."

"On Assignment" is produced by Robert Sterner.

I'm Marianne Keller. Thanks for listening.