{"id":90663,"date":"2024-02-19T09:23:06","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T14:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/?p=90663"},"modified":"2024-02-19T09:35:24","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T14:35:24","slug":"our-democracy-is-much-better-served-when-local-journalism-thrives-unfortunately-thats-not-the-case-for-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/2024\/02\/19\/our-democracy-is-much-better-served-when-local-journalism-thrives-unfortunately-thats-not-the-case-for-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Our democracy is much better served when local journalism thrives; unfortunately, that’s not the case for the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

From DSC:<\/span><\/em>
\nLate last week, I ran into several items re: the state of the journalism industry in America. The bottom line is not encouraging. And this should concern every citizen who wants to see our democracy do well.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some items that got me to reflect on this issue\/situation:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The State of Local News<\/strong> <\/a>— from localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu (Northwestern University); via Ryan Craig’s Gap Letter<\/em> from last week<\/a><\/p>\n

Executive Summary <\/strong>(emphasis DSC)<\/span><\/em>
\nThere was both good news and bad news for local journalism this past year. The good news raised the possibility that a range of proposals and programs could begin to arrest the steep loss of local news over the past two decades and, perhaps, revive journalism in some places that have lost their news. The headlines on the bad news resoundingly conveyed the message that urgent action is needed in many venues \u2014 from boardrooms to the halls of Congress \u2014 and by many, including civic-minded organizations and entrepreneurs.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time, however, the number of local news outlets continued to contract at an even steeper rate in 2023. On the current trajectory, by the end of next year, the country will have lost a third of its newspapers since 2005. Discouragingly, the growth in alternative local news sources \u2014 digital and ethnic news outlets, as well as public broadcasting \u2014 has not kept pace with what\u2019s being lost.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Newspapers are continuing to vanish at an average rate of more than two a week.<\/strong>
\n…
\nIn addition to losing almost a third of its newspapers, the country has lost almost two-thirds of its newspaper journalists \u2014 43,000 \u2014 since 2005.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Opinion: Local news can seize the moment<\/strong><\/a> — from crainsdetroit.com by Sue Ellen Christian<\/p>\n

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Our society isn\u2019t short on news, we\u2019re short on attention.<\/strong> <\/span>How do we get honest reporting on local events and issues noticed by readers, viewers and listeners in our digital age of content saturation, misinformation and online chaos? Plus, not only are adults overall consuming less news, but many also now intentionally avoid any news and its attendant hyperbole, negativity and fear-mongering.<\/p>\n

Local news is an oasis from the national muck. The Gallup\/Knight study from last year showed that adults in the U.S. trust local news organizations two times more than national news outlets (44% to 21%), and perceive local journalists as caring more about the impact of their reporting.<\/p>\n

For the collaborative and the nation\u2019s many struggling local news outlets, there was this hope-giving finding: \u201cWhen Americans perceive that local news organizations do not have the resources to report the news accurately and fairly, they are more likely to say they would consider paying for news in the future,\u201d stated the report.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The future is now, people.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A healthy democracy depends on an informed citizenry. Local news is essential, and today\u2019s financially struggling outlets need local paying subscribers.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From DSC: <\/em><\/span>Also as a relevant aside:<\/span>
\nWonder Media<\/strong><\/a>
\nThis website is dedicated to helping you learn more about how to use
\nthe media for your purposes, and not to be used by media. Explore
\nthe site to learn about media literacy and news media literacy
\nthrough games, videos, quizzes, and more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Opinion: Stronger democracy is worth the investment<\/strong><\/a> — from crainsdetroit.com by Hugh Dellios<\/p>\n

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

By itself, philanthropy isn\u2019t the ultimate solution. But it can be a bridge to a moment when this generation\u2019s media entrepreneurs have had a chance to solve the puzzle of a more sustainable business model, one that serves audience needs, counts on a variety of solid revenue streams, and restores value in producing news.<\/p>\n

A strong, free press is essential to the functioning of our society \u2013 and that\u2019s why it\u2019s the only private industry specifically protected by the U.S. Constitution. But unless we invest in real newsrooms, we\u2019ll continue to see the disappearance of real reporters who ask the tough, informed questions that help forge good policy and hold our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n

The return on that investment? A better-functioning, more stable democracy. The alternative? Maybe waking up one day without one.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

With local journalism \u2018in crisis,\u2019 Michigan newsrooms get creative to fill the gap<\/strong><\/a> — from crainsdetroit.com by Julie Mack<\/p>\n

Local journalism is \u201cin crisis,\u201d said Tim Franklin, who heads Northwestern\u2019s Local News Initiative and is a former top editor at the Indianapolis Star, Orlando Sentinel and Baltimore Sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI equate the local news crisis to being journalism\u2019s climate change. It\u2019s this grinding attrition,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a real inflection point for local news in America. The question is, how are we going to get out of this?\u201d
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI really do believe there\u2019s never been a better time to be a corrupt local politician because nobody is watching the henhouse,\u201d said Sue Ellen Christian, a former Chicago Tribune reporter and now a Western Michigan University journalism professor. \u201cThere are very few local reporters now, few local news outlets with the bandwidth to pull the documents, go to obscure committee meetings \u2014 that\u2019s where you find the story, the string that you pull that becomes a really good, important local news story.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From DSC: Late last week, I ran into several items re: the state of the journalism industry in America. The bottom line is not encouraging. And this should concern every citizen who wants to see our democracy do well. Here are some items that got me to reflect on this issue\/situation: The State of Local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159,25,15,385,480,321,214],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dangers-of-the-status-quo","category-journalism","category-lifelong-learning","category-michigan","category-society","category-united-states","category-universities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90663"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90679,"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90663\/revisions\/90679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}