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Quoted By: >>1237482
https://www.axios.com/2023/11/16/newspapers-decline-hedge-funds-research
The decline of local newspapers accelerated so rapidly in 2023 that analysts now believe the U.S. will have lost one-third of the newspapers it had as of 2005 by the end of next year — rather than in 2025, as originally predicted.
Why it matters: Most communities that lose a local newspaper in America usually do not get a replacement, even online.
By the numbers: There are roughly 6,000 newspapers left in America, down from 8,891 in 2005, according to a new report from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
"We're almost at a one-third loss now and we'll certainly hit that pace next year," said the report's co-authors — Penelope Muse Abernathy, a visiting professor at Medill, and Sarah Stonbely, director of Medill's State of Local News Project.
Of the papers that still survive, a majority (4,790) publish weekly, not daily.
What's happening: Over the past two years, newspapers continued to vanish at an average rate of more than two per week, leaving 204 U.S. counties, or 6.4%, without any local news outlet.
Roughly half of all U.S. counties (1,562) are now only served with one remaining local news source — typically a weekly newspaper.
Abernathy and Stonbely estimate that 228 of those 1,562 counties, or roughly 7% of all U.S. counties, are at high risk of losing their last remaining local news outlet.
Be smart: Minorities and poorer people without access to high-speed broadband are far more likely to live in areas that are news deserts or at risk of becoming one.
The counties at risk of becoming news deserts are located in high poverty areas in the South or the Midwest, often ones that serve significant Black, Hispanic and Native American populations.
The intrigue: Hedge funds that bought up big chunks of the newspaper industry in recent decades have pulled back.
The decline of local newspapers accelerated so rapidly in 2023 that analysts now believe the U.S. will have lost one-third of the newspapers it had as of 2005 by the end of next year — rather than in 2025, as originally predicted.
Why it matters: Most communities that lose a local newspaper in America usually do not get a replacement, even online.
By the numbers: There are roughly 6,000 newspapers left in America, down from 8,891 in 2005, according to a new report from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
"We're almost at a one-third loss now and we'll certainly hit that pace next year," said the report's co-authors — Penelope Muse Abernathy, a visiting professor at Medill, and Sarah Stonbely, director of Medill's State of Local News Project.
Of the papers that still survive, a majority (4,790) publish weekly, not daily.
What's happening: Over the past two years, newspapers continued to vanish at an average rate of more than two per week, leaving 204 U.S. counties, or 6.4%, without any local news outlet.
Roughly half of all U.S. counties (1,562) are now only served with one remaining local news source — typically a weekly newspaper.
Abernathy and Stonbely estimate that 228 of those 1,562 counties, or roughly 7% of all U.S. counties, are at high risk of losing their last remaining local news outlet.
Be smart: Minorities and poorer people without access to high-speed broadband are far more likely to live in areas that are news deserts or at risk of becoming one.
The counties at risk of becoming news deserts are located in high poverty areas in the South or the Midwest, often ones that serve significant Black, Hispanic and Native American populations.
The intrigue: Hedge funds that bought up big chunks of the newspaper industry in recent decades have pulled back.
