What the Local News Desert Numbers Actually Show
Northwestern Medill's reporting puts the loss at roughly a third of American newspapers since 2005 — the transferable lesson is narrower than the eulogy.
Nathan Brooks
Coverage of journalism at city and county level: closures and launches, staffing at surviving papers, the spread of news deserts, and research linking lost coverage to lower turnout and higher municipal borrowing costs. Read by community publishers, local officials and philanthropies funding regional reporting.
Reporting on community news at county and city scale: which places lost coverage, what filled the gap, and the civic cost of that loss.
Northwestern Medill's reporting puts the loss at roughly a third of American newspapers since 2005 — the transferable lesson is narrower than the eulogy.
Nathan Brooks
The county-level count is the best supply map local journalism has, and it was never built to tell you whether anyone is at the council meeting.
Nathan Brooks
Permits, assessments, deeds, and HUD datasets turn housing coverage from vibes into numbers — a monthly routine a one-reporter desk can run with a spreadsheet.
Nathan Brooks
The outlets that serve communities in disasters prepare in calm weather — charged gear, standing source lists, pre-written explainers, and a publishing plan that assumes the power is out.
Rosa Marchetti
Paid, credited, edited work — the partnerships that last treat students as staff and the newsroom as a teaching hospital, with liability and credit rules written before the first assignment.
Rosa Marchetti