Local Newspapers vs. The Internet

Have you noticed that recently, more and more small town newspapers have gone out of business? In fact, according to Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, “In 2005 there were 8,891 newspapers. In the early 20th century, there had been about 24,000 newspapers in the U.S.” 15,109 papers have gone out of business since the 20th century, and one of the leading causes of the decline in newspapers, according to Martha Minow in her book Saving the News, is “the migration of readers to digital platforms that do not reinvest in reporting and analyzing news and do not see themselves as news providers.” The “migration to digital platforms,” as Minow put it, tends to provide easier access to news, and as a result, physical newspapers begin to lose support from local communities. 

Also, according to Minow, “Newspaper newsrooms lost 45 percent of their employees between 2008 and 2017. Cascading reductions of staff and cutbacks on production accelerated in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.” As newspapers lose their employees, the consistency, reliability, and overall quality of the articles begins to decline. Smaller staff often results in missed deadlines and sloppy editing work, which can upset the people expecting to receive quality newspapers promptly.

Most of these newspapers that have been shut down as a result of the “migration” to digital resources and the decrease in employees are local papers in small communities. These papers often cover topics like local weather, community events, sports, community politics and general local news. The primary difference between these small town newspapers and larger news organizations is that papers like The New York Times and The Washington Post cover world events and national issues as opposed to topics that affect the day-to-day lives of citizens. In contrast, the topics local newspapers cover, like local politics, directly affect residents because the citizens can take action to alter outcomes of local elections or support local businesses. Therefore, according to American journalist Margaret Sullivan in her talk on CHQ Assembly 2024, people find it increasingly difficult to relate to such topics discussed in national and international news outlets, especially since many people feel as though these topics do not affect them directly.

Furthermore, Sullivan continues to say that local news is vital to keeping communities united because local news gives citizens issues that they can resolve together by fighting on the same side. Mothers and fathers can unite to make sure their children are receiving the optimal education instead of arguing about political views. According to the article “Does Local News Reduce Polarization?” from Carnegie Corporation of New York, “Local news is far better than national news at showing us those common interests and identities.” This article reiterates Sullivan’s point that local news decreases the amount of polarization seen between citizens because of its ability to cover issues directly related to community members and to provide events that are easier for people to agree on.

As we approach the 2024 Presidential Election, many national news sites are covering the updates in the election process. . Due to this reason, an even greater divide has formed between American citizens because of the ideologies that accompany political elections. According to the Pew Research Center’s article “Political Polarization in the American Public: How Increasing Ideological Uniformity and Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics, Compromise and Everyday Life,” as we head into the 2024 presidential elections, “Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines … than at any point in the last two decades.” Combined with the research of Sullivan, we can conclude that the polarization we see between Democrats and Republicans living in the same communities is partially caused by a lack of issues that they can agree on. As the Pew Research Center’s article states, Democrats and Republicans are “divided along ideological lines,” meaning that it is the ideas and beliefs of the two political parties that is the primary division between them. In contrast, town issues tend to be more bipartisan than national issues because a smaller group of people are involved. Therefore, compromises are simpler to reach and it is easier to hear more people’s opinions.

Furthermore, according to the Medill School of Journalism, “There are now 1,562 counties (over one-half of all counties) with just one newspaper.” Just like how larger newspapers cover topics relating to larger groups of people, the newspapers shared amongst counties apply similar methods. When multiple counties share a newspaper, they are also sharing news, and since The Medill School of Journalism continues to say that these newspapers are often only published once a week, there might be moments in time when members of these counties are reading news that does not apply to them at all. For example, articles discussing the community politics of another county do not impact another county at all. Therefore, people turn to newspapers that offer news applicable to citizens even if it is not in their day-to-day lives. 

So, with the decrease in local newspapers’ staff, quality, and relatability, the movement to online newspapers becomes more logical. However, online news sources tend to be more vulnerable to misinformation and fake news, primarily because of the surge in the use of artificial intelligence. According to Pranshu Verma in his article, “The rise of AI fake news is creating a ‘misinformation superspreader’” for The Washington Post, “Since May [2023], websites hosting AI-created false articles have increased by more than 1,000 percent, ballooning from 49 sites to more than 600.” More and more online news sites have fallen victim to falsely generated AI articles because, as Verma puts it later in his article, “AI is making it easy for nearly anyone … to create these outlets.” It is possible for almost any person to get AI to write an article for them, and sometimes the information within the article is entirely false. Therefore, the change from physical newspapers to online news sites results in more people getting fed fake news and misinformation. And, since many citizens throughout the world neglect double checking the facts of the news, these people believe the lies they read. These lies often spark arguments amongst friends and family and continue to deepen the divide between people, specifically the citizens of the United States. 

We may not often recognize local newspapers as vital parts of our lives, but completely disregarding the impact and importance of small town news continues to harm citizens throughout the United States. People neglect the news that does not seem to relate to them as individuals. Political divides continue to grow as citizens find it increasingly more difficult to find common beliefs, and false information spreads rapidly as more people shift to online news sites that often fall victim to falsely generally AI articles. However, local newspapers more often have issues that affect daily lives of citizens, and these common problems help to provide common ground for community members. While there’s not much that can be done to reinstate local newspapers that have gone out of business, recognizing their impact on our lives and making changes to how we receive our news virtually will benefit us as a society. Learning to double check facts and teaching ourselves to find common ground with those we may not always agree with are two of the necessary steps in mending significant scars on our country.