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).

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

Journalists get left behind in the industry’s decline

January 1, 2020

Journalists get left behind in the industry’s decline

There are lots of efforts to bolster print and local media, but there aren’t many structures in place to support journalists struggling with job insecurity or job loss.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/01/journalists-get-left-behind-in-the-industrys-decline/

The chances of another newspaper megamerger just went up: McClatchy will likely go up for bid

The chances of another newspaper megamerger just went up: McClatchy will likely go up for bid

America’s bankrupt No. 2 newspaper chain — owner of dailies in Miami, Kansas City, Charlotte, Sacramento, Fort Worth, and more — is subject to the same consolidation logic as the rest of the industry.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/04/the-chances-of-another-newspaper-megamerger-just-went-up-mcclatchy-will-likely-go-up-for-bid/

The L.A. Times is closing three suburban newspapers

The L.A. Times is closing three suburban newspapers

The first set of cuts at the Los Angeles Times — which said this week its ad revenue has “nearly been eliminated” by coronavirus — came on the business side, plus pay reductions for some editors in the newsroom. But the cuts are now moving more thoroughly into news production, with the closure of three weekly newspapers it publishes.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/04/the-l-a-times-is-closing-three-suburban-newspapers

Bail Out Journalists. Let Newspaper Chains Die.

Bail Out Journalists. Let Newspaper Chains Die.

The coronavirus is likely to hasten the end of advertising-driven media, our columnist writes. And government should not rescue it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/business/coronavirus-journalists-newspapers.html