Guest Editorial: Losing Our Local Newspapers
Author: John Adams, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Montana Free Press
Guest Editorial: Losing Our Local Newspapers John Adams, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Montana Free Press According to a recent study by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, the country has lost more than a quarter of its newspapers since 2005. That’s more than 2,500 newspapers in less than two decades, and we’re on track to lose a third by 2025. On average, more than two newspapers are disappearing every week.
Whether you’re in one of Montana’s biggest cities or a town with one post office, you’ve likely seen local newspaper staff laid off, physical offices closed and circulation drop. News deserts and information deserts are serious things. In communities without a credible source of local news, voter participation declines, corruption in both government and business increases, and political, cultural and economic divisions between and within communities intensifies.
Without funding to support dedicated journalists, misinformation – and deliberate disinformation- rises.
That’s the threat Montana Free Press (MTFP) was founded to prevent. Access to information is a foundational, and crucial, right of a strong democracy, and MTFP members know this: “High quality local and investigative reporting is essential to an informed citizenry and the functioning of democracy”.
That’s what’s at stake when local journalism is lost: community connection, an informed citizenry, and democracy itself.
Editorial Opinion by John Adams, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Montana Free Press, Helena, Montana Dec. 12, 2022
