News Deserts
75% of Southern counties (50% of non-Southern counties) have one or no newspaper, meaning limited access to critical information.
Counties with no or only one newspaper (“news deserts”)
News deserts as of 2022
More than half of U.S. counties are what experts call “local news deserts” that have either no newspaper or only one (often a weekly or a thinly staffed daily). Southerners are more likely to live in news deserts. 75% of Southern counties are news deserts, compared to only 50% of non-Southern counties. The steady decline of local newspapers across the nation has accelerated since the start of the pandemic, with over 300 news sources closing their doors.<sup<1< data-preserve-html-node="true"/sup>
Local news is essential for community transparency and information, both crucial ingredients for an effective democracy. A Brennan Center report found that 2.7 million adults of voting age live in news deserts, with 700,000 living in battleground states.2 Lack of local news can and has allowed misinformation and disinformation to flourish.3 Mis- and disinformation circulated prior to the 2022 midterm elections, ranging from false information campaigns in multiple languages to candidates falsifying or embellishing their backgrounds, with little to no community accountability.4,5,6,7,8 As local news sources close their doors or struggle to keep them open, an essential platform for democracy is rapidly disappearing.
Solutions at both the community and national level are crucial to reviving trusted local news. In news deserts across the U.S. Gulf state region, a news collective called the Gulf State Newsroom provides support to local journalists to help fill the void.9 The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, a bipartisan bill supported by 77 representatives, including from six Southern states (GA, MS, NC, VA, TN, and WV), would provide tax credits for subscriptions and employment at local news organizations.10,11
“The State of Local News”. Abernathy. Northwestern Local News Initiative. June, 2022. https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/research/state-of-local-news/report/
“‘News Deserts’ Could Impact Midterm Elections”. Panditharatne. Brennan Center For Justice. October, 2022. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/news-deserts-could-impact-midterm-elections
“Battleground States See the Most Voting Misinformation”. Alba. The New York Times. November, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/technology/battleground-states-see-the-most-voting-misinformation.html
“Misinformation Swirls in Non-English Languages Ahead of Midterms”. Hsu. The New York Times. October, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/business/media/midterms-foreign-language-misinformation.html
“Latino voters are being flooded with even more misinformation in 2022”. Paz. Vox. September, 2022. https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23329139/latino-voters-misinformation-2022
“U.S. election misinformation limited, not stopped, on social media -experts”. Dang, Dave. Reuters. November, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-social-platforms-could-see-spike-election-misinformation-2022-11-09/
“Phantom Candidates and Ghost Newspapers”. Waldman. The Bulwark. January, 2023. https://www.thebulwark.com/phantom-candidates-and-ghost-newspapers/?utm_source=Poynter+Institute&utm_campaign=1a70c6de56-DATE+Local+Edition_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_26742a15dc-1a70c6de56-428537627
“George Santos Is in a Class of His Own. But Other Politicians Have Embellished Their Resumes, Too”. Vigdor. The New York Times. December, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/28/us/politics/george-santos-resume-lies-politicians.html
“The Gulf States Newsroom Builds Connections for Better Journalism”. Sirianni. NPR. March, 2022. https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/2022/03/15/1086474553/the-gulf-states-newsroom-builds-connections-for-better-journalism
“Summary: H.R.3940 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)”. Congress.Gov. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3940
“Rebuilding Local News”. Rebuild Local News. https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/solutions/our-plan/
