The rise of the internet 25 years ago promised a new era in access to information. We now understand that this revolution led to both a flourishing of knowledge and an explosion in news and information from unverified sources, underscoring the importance of reviving local news. At the same time, the shift in advertising to the web undermined the business model for news, killing thousands of newspapers and magazines across America. U.S. newspapers lost 77% of their jobs between 2004 and 2024, the single worst dive among any of the 532 industries tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The result? A new poll out this month from the Pew Research Center found that Republicans and young Americans put nearly as much trust in social media feeds as they do in national news sources. But while trust in media has declined over the last several decades, 85% of Americans still see value in reviving local news and listening to local journalists, according to a May 2024 Pew poll.

That is why it is so troubling that there are nearly 1,800 counties in America now that have one or no local trustworthy source of local news and information. Perhaps even more disturbing, “pink slime” sites – websites that present themselves as neutral local news outlets, but which are actually run by partisan groups or hostile foreign actors – now outnumber genuine local newsrooms in America.

The death of local news undermines trust in democracy, promotes partisan divisions and provides a fertile breeding ground for acceptance of authoritarianism. Research by the Democracy Fund in 2020 found that 1 in 3 Americans said a “strong leader” is a good way to run a country at least once; 1 in 4 said a “strong leader who doesn’t have to bother with Congress and elections” is a good form of government; and nearly 1 in 5 said the same about “army rule.”

I have spent nearly 20 years supporting independent media and press freedom, and I have seen how the disappearance of local news watchdogs leads to more government corruption, more social division and fewer people turning out to vote. I have also studied lessons from other countries facing democratic backsliding, and I’ve never been more convinced of the critical importance of robust local news to a healthy democracy.

Read the full article about reviving local news by Josh Stearns at U.S. News and World Report.