Welcome to "On Assignment." I'm Gath Townsend. For decades, local newspapers and broadcast outlets were the backbone of community information—everything from school lunch menus to hard-hitting investigations into city hall. But as these traditional newsrooms shrink or disappear entirely, something new has emerged to fill the gap: an informal information ecosystem that's both fascinating and, frankly, a little troubling.

Today, we're exploring how platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp are reshaping the way we find, share, and trust information in our communities.

My guest is Doctor Leona Rios, a researcher and writer who studies how people navigate information outside traditional media. Her work traces the pathways of what she calls "informal news"—from bustling Facebook swap groups in small-town America to encrypted chats that feel more like digital campfires than newsrooms. She's also, as she puts it, a reluctant group chat participant herself.

Dr. Rios, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me, Gath.

So let's start with the big picture. Why are we seeing this rise of informal news ecosystems? What vacuum are they filling?

It all comes back to what we call the collapse of local news. Over the past two decades, we've watched a dramatic erosion of local news organizations—newspapers, local websites, you name it. Penny Abernathy at UNC's journalism school coined the term "news deserts" to describe counties and towns that have lost their dedicated local news source entirely.

Her 2020 report painted a pretty grim picture. In just the last 15 years, more than a quarter of American newspapers have shut down. During that same period, over half of all local journalists lost their jobs. The reporters who remain? They're overwhelmed, trying to cover beats that used to require entire teams.

And the pace of closures seems to be accelerating.

Absolutely. Just recently in Colorado, we saw five local newsrooms on the eastern plains close within two weeks of each other. Nationwide, we're losing local papers at a rate of about 2.5 per week. That leaves more than half of all U.S. counties with either one local outlet or none at all. We're talking about roughly 200 counties that are complete news deserts.

So Facebook is stepping in—or maybe being forced into—that void?

Exactly. Take Trinidad, Colorado. They lost their local paper over a decade ago, and now the community relies on Facebook groups like "The Voice of Trinidad" for local news and events. Corey Hutchins at Colorado College has documented how Cheyenne County—one of Colorado's first news deserts—now depends on a Facebook page as its primary news source.

The Colorado News Mapping Project lists three counties where the only "news outlet" is actually a Facebook group. That's remarkable when you think about it.

But these groups are run by volunteers, not trained journalists. What does that mean for the quality of information?

It's a huge shift. Take Patty Hevner, who runs a Facebook group for several small Colorado towns. She's completely upfront about not being a journalist. What she does is curate—she shares posts she finds online, checks sources based on whether they're connected to her county, and tries to weed out obvious spam.

So instead of original reporting or investigation, you get school sports updates, bakery announcements, weather advisories—all pulled from other sources. It's valuable for community connection, but it's not journalism in the traditional sense.

And that creates some risks, doesn't it?

Absolutely. Karen Hill, a former journalist who now moderates a Facebook page in Colorado, put it perfectly. Before her local paper closed, they worked to combat what she called "20 different people saying 20 different things" that would spread on Facebook groups. Now, with traditional outlets gone, that unverified information is often all people have.

These groups can become what I call "rumor wells"—places where misinformation spreads unchecked because there's no professional oversight.

You've used the term "darkening forest" to describe this information landscape. Can you explain what you mean?

The "darkening forest" captures how information increasingly flows through less visible, less accountable channels. This is especially true with encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp.

Traditional media is relatively contained—you know who the authors are, there's editorial oversight. But social media platforms allow anyone to be a publisher, with far fewer rules about accuracy or accountability.

WhatsApp is particularly interesting because it's become a key medium for spreading news and rumors, often as images that get shared from group to group. Research shows that false information actually travels deeper into these networks, reaches more people, and lasts longer—especially in political groups.

So even though these feel like private conversations, they can have massive public impact.

Exactly. The algorithms that govern these platforms work in opaque ways, creating what researchers call "homogeneous, polarized clusters"—echo chambers where people self-select information that confirms what they already believe.

Without dedicated local news sources, people increasingly rely on these informal networks for information. And we know from research that misinformation spreads faster and farther than truth on these platforms—sometimes traveling six times faster.

How much power do these platforms actually wield over our information environment?

They're essentially "walled gardens" for public discussion, governed by their own algorithms and content policies. Because of network effects—where the platform becomes more valuable as more people join—users have little incentive to switch to alternatives.

This creates a vicious cycle for local news. Traditional outlets struggle for advertising revenue while also facing challenges getting their content seen on these dominant platforms.

And Meta recently made some significant changes to how they handle news and fact-checking.

They've ended their fact-checking program in favor of a "community notes" system, similar to what X uses. They've also said they'll reduce restrictions on political content. Meta's position is that people aren't interested in news, and that news was never an effective way to combat misinformation.

But research suggests otherwise—that there's actually demand for reliable news on these platforms, and that quality journalism helps people distinguish facts from fiction.

So what can be done? Are there solutions being discussed?

The solutions need to be as complex as the problems. First, we need to educate the public about the value of local news and help people develop better strategies for evaluating information sources.

Second, we need to empower journalists with resources and training. Some experts, like former Columbia Journalism dean Nicholas Lemann, argue the crisis is so severe that only direct government support can save local news.

Third, we need market-based reforms to address the power imbalance between news producers and platforms. This could include antitrust exemptions for news organizations to jointly negotiate with platforms, or even breaking up dominant platforms entirely.

And what about the users themselves?

Recent research shows that when you incentivize social media users to follow quality news outlets, it actually works. It enhances their knowledge of current affairs, improves their ability to spot false news, and increases trust in legitimate journalism.

The encouraging finding is that users themselves report wanting more informative, educational, and verified content. It's not true that people only want entertainment, despite what platforms often assume.

It sounds like we're at a crossroads where the solutions need to be as dynamic as the problems themselves.

This is an evolving challenge that requires constant attention and adaptation. The conversation is far from over.

Doctor Leona Rios, thank you for shedding light on this crucial topic.

My pleasure, Gath. Thanks for having me.

That was Dr. Leona M. Rios discussing how we navigate our changing information landscape. You've been listening to "On Assignment." I'm Gath Townsend.

On Assignment is produced by Robert Sterner.

Next time we're exploring civic navigators: Identifying and Supporting Trusted Community Messengers. I hope you'll join us.