Penelope Muse Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor, stands with the daily newspaper selection in the Park Library at the School of Journalism in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Thursday, March 7, 2019. "Strong newspapers have been good for democracy, and both educators and informers of a citizenry and its governing officials. They have been problem-solvers," said Abernathy, who studies news industry trends and oversaw the "news desert" report released the previous fall.
Among other things, the city responded by requiring property owners to make repairs when it found violations, rather than just levy fines.It’s the kind of journalism — holding local government officials accountable for problems that affect the lives of real people — that is in danger of being lost in many communities around the country.
The loss of a reliable local news source has many consequences for the community. One of them is the inability to watchdog the actions of government agencies and elected officials. “That is what you are missing when you don’t have someone covering you and bringing transparency or sunlight onto government decisions and giving people a say in how those government decisions are made.”
“Our evidence suggests that a local government is more likely to engage in wasteful spending when there is no local newspaper to report on that government,” said University of Illinois Chicago’s Dermot Murphy, one of the study’s authors. “Investors find it riskier to lend money to wasteful governments, and thus the costs of financing public infrastructure projects, such as schools, hospitals, and roadways, for a local government are higher.
VAgaslight Sure, but local journalism will be replaced by editorials by Boris Epshteyn, so I'm sure everything will work out fine.
Oh, but there’s social media and that’s where all the news is
True. And as goes the press, so goes democracy.
Too bad. Local newspapers seem to be the last bastion of journalistic integrity.
GFTrib_KInbody This is a sad truth. However, a reporters credibility is based off a strict adherence to objectivity. An objectivity that has been absent as of late. There are some alternatives to the AP showing up, we’ll see what the future holds.
If local papers DID NOT print local darlings repeatedly, ALWAYS THE SAME ONES, small-town political NOTHINGS receiving accolades and commendations for mishandling, embezzling, and misappropiating taxpayer $'s to THEIR advantage, perhaps people would buy their sucky newspaper.
True that
Objective journalism is dead and buried. Most journalists today are agenda driven. They deceifully manipulate stories to fit their agenda driven narratives.
None of you have been holding democrats accountable for a while now.
yaelwrites No Citizen Journalism Be it YouTube based or blogging is doing well fake news by/ for elites not so much
You may want to hold a refresher of the 5Ws if you want to keep credible. Why isn't this the big story of the day mockingbird
And not paying AP. It’s all about clicks and $$$. Tired of poor customer service and biased news. Ya done it to yourselves.
tigerbeat Not just local government. Coverage of national news is awful. This expose on the real circumstances surrounding the death of Haji Naseem at Guantanamo showed that national news account of same were woefully inadequate
Such kind of journalism should get lost judging by racist stories as in this tweet
Danish newspapers are essential for democracy in Denmark to function and receive funding from the Danish state
Bullpucky ... journalism that falls in love with political isms is far, far more dangerous to communities, AP. Clean up your act ...
Newspapers only hold one side accountable these days and that’s pure rubbish and that’s why newspapers are folding left and right.
Forgettaboutit! The GOD DAMN COUNTRY CLUB CONNECTIONS usurped ANY form of accountability years ago. EVEN in my home town where the local newspaper owner & editor is a close personal friend of the Clintons. 'Can you say 'Ultra Rightwing Conservative Liberal' boys and girls?'
The decline of local newspapers will ultimately result in the rise of corruption and graft in our community governments and businesses. Such a sad and scary development.
🙄 Meanwhile, mainstream global journalism that holds itself to the high-minded standards of integrity, objectivity and fairness, is PracticallyExtinct.
Good
Because the only 'journalists' in America are the rock-ribbed Democrat partisans who publish physical newspapers. 🙄
Gosh, it's been working so well..
Oh well. The press is the EnemyOfThePeople
Conversely, many local papers are as biased as Fox News at the moment. Local newspapers could use a house cleaning ...