The Darkening Forest: How Informal News Ecosystems Are Reshaping What We Know
As local newspapers vanish and broadcast outlets shrink, a new—and often shadowy—ecosystem is stepping in to fill the information void: Facebook groups, WhatsApp chats, and community-run pages now serve as the de facto newsrooms for thousands of towns across the country.
In this episode of On Assignment, host Gath Townsend speaks with Dr. Leona M. Rios, a researcher and self-described “reluctant group chat participant,” whose work explores how people find and trust information in spaces beyond traditional media. From small-town Facebook groups to encrypted WhatsApp threads, we trace the rise of what Dr. Rios calls “the darkening forest”—a dense, often invisible network of informal news that is increasingly shaping public life.
Together, they explore:
- Why traditional news is collapsing—and where communities are turning instead
- How platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp create both connection and confusion
- The role of volunteer moderators and the limits of “curated news”
- The risks of misinformation and the invisible spread of rumors in encrypted spaces
- And what can actually be done—from community education to systemic reform
This is a story about the shifting foundations of trust, truth, and who gets to decide what counts as “news” in a fractured media landscape.
Guest: Dr. Leona M. Rios, researcher, writer, and media anthropologist
On Assignment is produced by Robert Sterner.
Creators and Guests
Host
George "Gath" Townsend
Gath Townsend brings a steady cadence and a reflective tone to On Assignment, often asking the questions just beneath the surface. Raised on print but fascinated by pixels, he’s especially drawn to how social media, digital platforms, and emerging technologies shape the public’s sense of truth—and how easily that truth can be bent. He's a big fan of NPR, podcasting, and continually learning more. Gath isn't originally from Central Pennsylvania, but he's called the area home for some time. Though he keeps a relatively low profile, Gath has a knack for pattern recognition: the signals buried in noise, the way disinformation moves through networks, and the quiet work of those trying to push back. He’s not big on headlines about himself, but behind the scenes, his voice never waivers and his presence never fades. For those who know their journalism history, the name might ring a bell—but this Gath’s still very much online.
Guest
Dr. Leona Rios
Dr. Leona M. Rios is a researcher, writer, and reluctant group chat participant who studies how people find, share, and trust information outside traditional media. Her work traces the pathways of informal news—from bustling Facebook swap groups in small-town America to encrypted chats that feel more like digital campfires than newsrooms. She’s currently affiliated with the University of Cascadia and consults with several unnamed labs on how machine learning intersects with human rumor. Her forthcoming book, “The Shadowfeed,” explores what happens to news when no one’s watching—but everyone’s listening. When she’s not analyzing signal decay in WhatsApp groups, Dr. Rios enjoys arguing with her neighborhood Facebook group moderator and teaching her smart speaker to fact-check itself.