Local News Is Dying, and Democracy With It
In communities across the developed world, local newspapers are closing. The economics are straightforward: advertising revenue has migrated to digital platforms, subscription bases have eroded, and the cost of maintaining a newsroom that covers local government, courts, schools, and public safety exceeds the revenue the publication can generate.
The closures are reported, when they are reported at all, as business stories. A publication failed to adapt. A market shifted. An industry declined.