The days of newspapers may be limited as more and more people are ditching print and relying on digital platforms for news. Although TV news and social media are useful, they cannot fill the void local newspapers are starting to leave behind.
Newspapers have been struggling to compete with digital and TV news for quite some time. According to a Pew Research Center survey, only 5 percent of Americans prefer to get their news from newspapers compared to the 52 percent who prefer digital platforms and the 35 percent who prefer TV news.
One reason for this is that digital news sources may be more convenient and cost-effective as many online publications and social media sources offer free articles, whereas newspapers charge a subscription fee for print copies. People are less willing to pay for a service they can find elsewhere more conveniently and for free.
Since bigger audiences are more interested in getting their news from digital platforms and TV, advertisers are more interested in purchasing online and TV ads instead of newspaper advertisements. Newspapers are losing both advertising and subscription revenue, causing a decline in the newspaper industry.
This decline in revenue has led to small local newspapers cutting staff, consolidating or shutting down entirely. According to Pew Research Center, employment in local newspapers has dramatically declined from 74,410 employees in 2006 to 30,820 in 2020.
Just in the past three years, 360 newspapers have shut down in the U.S., most of which were small dailies. Other small independent papers within a certain region are being bought out by large media companies and merged into a regional paper. When local newspapers are closing and consolidating and the number of newspaper employees is dwindling, we miss out on the unique, localized coverage local newspapers have provided throughout the years.
When local newspapers were in their prime, they were able to provide the local community a service through investigative journalism on a small scale.
Years ago, there were enough journalists to act as watchdogs and cover all local government meetings to ensure that corruption was exposed. Now with limited staff covering vast areas, many are forced to pick and choose which meetings they can attend, which leads to constituents remaining less informed about the integrity of their politicians.
Local investigative journalists were also given the time and opportunity to investigate suspicious cases and bring the truth to the light. In some cases, journalists brought down criminals before police could.
Within our community, former Citizens’ Voice reporter Carol Crane continued to investigate the murder of Robert Curley when law enforcement seemed to give up on the case and assisted in finding the killer who was his wife, Joann Curley. Former Patriot-News reporter Sara Ganim broke the story involving Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of young boys.
Another investigative journalist Julie K. Brown assisted in creating major developments in the Jeffrey Epstein case by exposing secret plea deals and platforming accusers in daily paper the Miami Herald.
“A lot of other local journalists aren’t given the luxury of the time I had with this, even though they are the last line of defense against corruption, against taxpayer money being wasted,” Brown said in an interview with The New York Times. “This has helped the public see we’re not the enemy of the people.”
As Brown mentioned, having an opportunity to investigate and create meaningful pieces on politicians, criminals and issues that matter is something many journalists do not have anymore. A future in which a small number of remaining professional journalists only have time to cover a select few major stories increases the possibility that corruption and wrongdoings may never be brought to light.
Investigative journalism, like Brown mentioned, aids in creating a trusting relationship between the media and the people. Rebuilding these relationships is much needed currently as roughly two-thirds of Americans have little to no trust or confidence in newspapers, TV and radio, according to a Gallup poll.
Besides investigative work and watchdog journalism, local newspapers also provide important information about small towns and the residents that live within them. In small town dailies, it’s common to see articles about the high school sports teams, obituaries of local residents and stories about local businesses.
If newspapers continue to lay off staff, close their doors and consolidate into regional papers, we will see small town residents less and less to make room for the major stories within the region. This prevents us from remaining informed of and connected with the fellow people within our community.
Although some may argue that this type of content can easily be replicated online, I would argue that in-depth coverage of these local topics is unique to newspaper journalists. TV and online news commonly do not go into the same amount of depth as newspapers and cover regional or even statewide and national stories instead of local ones.
Luckily, we have yet to see local news disappear in our community. Wilkes-Barre is one of the last small cities with two independent newspapers: The Times Leader and The Citizens’ Voice. Recently, however, The Citizens’ Voice, along with other papers within our region including The Times-Tribune, the Republican Herald and The Standard-Speaker, have been purchased by one of the largest media groups in the country MediaNews Group, according to WVIA.
Since this purchase is still recent, we do not know how new ownership will change news coverage within our local community, but hopefully, our local papers will still be able to produce localized content.
As time goes on, it will be interesting to see the fate of small town newspapers. Trends show that they will continue to close their doors and dwindle in staff numbers, making them limited in what they can cover. This is a shame as local newspapers offer unique services, whether it be local coverage or investigative journalism, that ensure our local communities remain informed.
