The Rise Of A New Media Baron And The Emerging Threat Of News Deserts

This report, divided into four sections, documents dramatic changes over the past decade. With the industry in distress, local newspapes are shrinking, and some are vanishing. At the same time, a new type of newspaper owner has emerged, very different from traditional publishers, the best of whom sought to balance business interests with civic responsibilty to the community where their paper was located. As newspapers confront an uncertain future, the choices these new owners make could determine whether vast 'news deserts' arise in communities and regions throughout the country. This has implications not just for the communities where these papers are located, but also, in the long-term, for all of America."--page 5.

This report delves into the implications for communities at risk of losing their primary source of credible news. By documenting the shifting news landscape and evaluating the threat of media deserts, this report seeks to raise awareness of the role interested parties can play in addressing the challenges confronting local news and democracy. The Expanding News Desert documents the continuing loss of papers and readers, the consolidation in the industry, and the social, political and economic consequences for thousands of communities throughout the country. It also provides an update on the strategies of the seven large investment firms--hedge and pension funds, as well as private and publicly traded equity groups--that swooped in to purchase hundreds of newspapers in recent years and explores the indelible mark they have left on the newspaper industry during a time of immense disruption.

America's community newspapers have entered an age of disruption. Towns and cities continue to need the journalism and advertising so essential to nurturing local identity and connection among citizens. But as the business of newspaper publishing collides with the digital revolution, and as technology redefines consumer habits and the very notion of community, how can newspapers survive and thrive? In Saving Community Journalism, veteran media executive Penelope Muse Abernathy draws on cutting-edge research and analysis to reveal pathways to transformation and long-term profitability. Offering practical guidance for editors and publishers, Abernathy shows how newspapers can build community online and identify new opportunities to generate revenue. Examining experiences at a wide variety of community papers--from a 7,000-circulation weekly in West Virginia to a 50,000-circulation daily in California and a 150,000-circulation Spanish-language weekly in the heart of Chicago--Saving Community Journalism is designed to help journalists and media-industry managers create and implement new strategies that will allow them to prosper in the twenty-first century. Abernathy's findings will interest everyone with a stake in the health and survival of local media.

This report is the fourth on the state of local news produced by the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It measures what has been lost, while also assessing what must be done if we are to nurture and revive a vibrant news landscape in the third decade of the 21st century. The first section of this report, "The News Landscape in 2020: Transformed and Diminished," examines the loss of local news, from the end of 2004--when newspaper advertising, circulation and employment were at, or near, peak levels--to the end of 2019, providing a time-lapsed snapshot of the news landscape before the coronavirus seized control of the economy. It assesses not only the current state of local newspapers, but also that of local digital sites, ethnic news organizations and public broadcasting outlets. The second section, "The News Landscape of the Future: Transformed ... and Renewed?" establishes the need for a reimagining of journalistic, business, technological and policy solutions. Extensive research has established that the loss of local news has significant political, social and economic implications for our democracy and our society. Yet, according to the Pew Research Center, almost three-quarters of the general public remains unaware of the dire economic situation confronting local news organizations. By documenting the transformation of the local news landscape over the past 15 years, and exploring the challenges and potential solutions, we hope this report will raise awareness of the role that all of us can play in supporting the revival of local news. Accompanying this report, is an updated website, usnewsdeserts.com, with more than 350 interactive maps--allows readers to drill down to the county level to understand the state of local media in communities throughout the United States. You will find information on regional and community newspapers--as well as public broadcasting outlets, ethnic media and digital sites.

This volume summarizes the evolution of news and information in the United States as it has been shaped by technology (penny press, radio, TV, cable, the internet) and form development (investigative journalism, tabloid TV, talk radio, social media). Media, Journalism, and "Fake News": A Reference Handbook provides readers with an overview of news and media in the United States. Additionally, the book discusses, additionally discussing the economic state of the news industry, partisan news, misinformation and disinformation, issues of representation, and the impact of social media. The volume starts with a background of the development of news and information in the United States. It then goes on to discuss significant problems, controversies, and solutions related to the topic. Readers also will be able to develop their understanding of the topic by reading profiles of key figures and organizations that contributed to the current news climate. A comprehensive list of resources will help readers decide where to go next should they want to learn more about a particular area of interest.

As local media institutions collapse and news deserts sprout up across the country, the US is facing a profound journalism crisis. Meanwhile, continuous revelations about the role that major media outlets--from Facebook to Fox News--play in the spread of misinformation have exposed deep pathologies in American communication systems. Despite these threats to democracy, policy responses have been woefully inadequate. In Democracy Without Journalism? Victor Pickard argues that we're overlooking the core roots of the crisis. By uncovering degradations caused by run-amok commercialism, he brings into focus the historical antecedents, market failures, and policy inaction that led to the implosion of commercial journalism and the proliferation of misinformation through both social media and mainstream news. The problem isn't just the loss of journalism or irresponsibility of Facebook, but the very structure upon which our profit-driven media system is built. The rise of a "misinformation society" is symptomatic of historical and endemic weaknesses in the American media system tracing back to the early commercialization of the press in the 1800s. While professionalization was meant to resolve tensions between journalism's public service and profit imperatives, Pickard argues that it merely camouflaged deeper structural maladies. Journalism has always been in crisis. The market never supported the levels of journalism--especially local, international, policy, and investigative reporting--that a healthy democracy requires. Today these long-term defects have metastasized. In this book, Pickard presents a counter-narrative that shows how the modern journalism crisis stems from media's historical over-reliance on advertising revenue, the ascendance of media monopolies, and a lack of public oversight. He draws attention to the perils of monopoly control over digital infrastructures and the rise of platform monopolies, especially the "Facebook problem." He looks to experiments from the Progressive and New Deal Eras--as well as public media models around the world--to imagine a more reliable and democratic information system. The book envisions what a new kind of journalism might look like, emphasizing the need for a publicly owned and democratically governed media system. Amid growing scrutiny of unaccountable monopoly control over media institutions and concerns about the consequences to democracy, now is an opportune moment to address fundamental flaws in US news and information systems and push for alternatives. Ultimately, the goal is to reinvent journalism.

Sponsored by the American Sociological Association Section on Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology (CITAMS), Creating Culture Through Media and Communication addresses the media and communications challenges of our time.

The volume brings together scholars from across the Americas to address the complex evolution of political and policy media spaces as they are studied from a range of perspectives.