These Little Town News Blues

“When you lose a local newspaper, what you are losing is that person who shows up to cover the town council, the person who covers the school board and the local police beat. At a minimum, it provides transparency about what’s going on in local government.” Local news had been on the ropes for years, and in many places across the country, the pandemic brought the knock-out punch. The trend will enable local corruption to run amuck. And the absence of trusted, local voices leaves an information vacuum that is filled by national ‘news’ sources often dominated by lies and conspiracy theories. From The Post and Courier: Accountability suffers as newspaper closures grow.