Why Local NEWS?

Local NEWS outlets (TV, Radio, Newspapers) have been dying for two decades as advertisers fled to digital, and newsrooms shrunk - creating "NEWS DESERTS” in over 2,000 US counties.

This created 2 problems:
1) Locals have limited access to local news that matters, and is important to their community and
2) local advertisers need to use global platforms to reach locals, which can be costly and ineffective. (46% of Google searches are seeking local info).

New steps to preserve and protect journalism and local newsrooms

October 7, 2020

Microsoft Corp.

New steps to preserve and protect journalism and local newsrooms

We’ve been looking at ways Microsoft’s technology and resources can help address some of the challenges journalism faces, and today I want to share some of the initial work of our initiative. It includes a new community-based pilot program that looks at ways to provide journalists and newsrooms new tools, technology and capacity, and expand reach for local news outlets.

https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/10/07/local-news-pilot-accountguard-defending-democracy/

Americans are losing faith in an objective media. A new Gallup/Knight study explores why.

John Sands on Medium

Americans are losing faith in an objective media. A new Gallup/Knight study explores why.

Americans have high aspirations for the news media to be a trusted, independent watchdog that holds the powerful to account. But in a new Gallup/Knight study, we’ve found the gap is growing between what Americans expect from the news and what they think they are getting. Perceptions of bias are increasing too, which further erodes the media’s ability to deliver on its promise to our democracy.

https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/americans-are-losing-faith-in-an-objective-media-a-new-gallup-knight-study-explores-why-8bc87139648e

'Ghosting The News' Author Says Local Journalism 'Freefall' Is Accelerating

More than 2,000 newspapers have shut down in recent years, and some regions have become news deserts. Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan says the collapse of local news undermines democracy.

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/03/898547327/ghosting-the-news-author-says-local-journalism-freefall-is-accelerating

Covid-19 has ravaged American newsrooms. Here’s why that matters.

Covid-19 has ravaged American newsrooms. Here’s why that matters.

The irony is that while battering journalism, the pandemic has also underlined the need for reliable local news.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/07/covid-19-has-ravaged-american-newsrooms-heres-why-that-matters/

The coronavirus has closed more than 30 local newsrooms across America. And counting.

The coronavirus has closed more than 30 local newsrooms across America. And counting.

At first, the pandemic cost newsrooms jobs and communities critical work. Now it’s starting to end entire newsrooms.

https://www.poynter.org/locally/2020/the-coronavirus-has-closed-more-than-25-local-newsrooms-across-america-and-counting/?utm_source=Daily+Lab+email+list&utm_campaign=1aa699e42c-dailylabemail3&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d68264fd5e-1aa699e42c-396566907

Less Local News Means Less Democracy

September 20, 2019

Less Local News Means Less Democracy

When local journalism declines, so does government transparency and civic engagement

https://niemanreports.org/articles/less-local-news-means-less-democracy/

U.S. newspapers have shed half of their newsroom employees since 2008

Pew Research Center

U.S. newspapers have shed half of their newsroom employees since 2008

Newsroom employment at U.S. newspapers continues to plummet, falling by around half since 2008, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. But a modest increase in jobs after 2014 in other news-producing sectors – especially digital-native organizations – offset some of the losses at newspapers, helping to stabilize the overall number of U.S. newsroom employees in the last five years.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/20/u-s-newsroom-employment-has-dropped-by-a-quarter-since-2008/

Here are the newsroom layoffs, furloughs and closures caused by the coronavirus

Here are the newsroom layoffs, furloughs and closures caused by the coronavirus

It’s getting hard to keep track of the bad news about the news right now. But we have to. Here’s our attempt to collect the layoffs, furloughs, and closures caused by the coronavirus’ critical blow to the economy and journalism in the United States. Please send tips. We’ll try to keep up.

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2020/here-are-the-newsroom-layoffs-furloughs-and-closures-caused-by-the-coronavirus/

America’s local newspapers confront an apocalypse

Columbia Journalism Review

America’s local newspapers confront an apocalypse

WITH EACH PASSING WEEK, the torrent of dire news about COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, intensifies across the United States. So, too, does the torrent of dire news about the newspapers bringing you the dire news.

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/local_news_layoffs_coronavirus.php

News Media Outlets Have Been Ravaged by the Pandemic

The New York Times

News Media Outlets Have Been Ravaged by the Pandemic

Roughly 36,000 workers at news companies in the U.S. have been laid off, been furloughed or had their pay reduced. Some publications that rely on ads have shut down.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/business/media/news-media-coronavirus-jobs.html