From vaccine hesitancy to the Big Lie, so much of today’s bad information festers in the vacuum left where local news used to exist. Can the government help? NYT (Gift Article): Local News Outlets Could Reap $1.7 Billion in Build Back Better Aid. “For The Storm Lake Times, a family-run paper in northwestern Iowa, it could mean $200,000 in federal subsidies the first year and nearly $500,000 over the four years after that. For EO Media, which publishes more than a dozen community newspapers in the Pacific Northwest, it could amount to $1.2 million the first year and $2.9 million over the next four. And Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the country, could receive $37.5 million the first year and tens of millions after that.” (Part of the goal of journalism is to provide a check on government. It’s an indication of how desperate local news is that we all seem to think it’s a pretty good idea for government to fund the effort.)