“Already, some 2,500 dailies and weeklies have shuttered since 2005; there are fewer than 6,500 left. Every week, two more disappear. And although many digital-only news sites have cropped up around the nation, most communities that lost a local newspaper will not get a print or digital replacement … The neediest areas — those that are more remote, poorer and less wired — are the ones that get hurt the worst. Most of the new investment and innovation pouring into the media sector, as valuable and needed as it is, doesn’t reach these regions.” Margaret Sullivan in WaPo (Gift Article): Every week, two more newspapers close — and ‘news deserts’ grow larger.

+ And that vacuum can be filled with false information, often delivered by way of Fox News or social media. Related from WaPo: Instagram and Facebook remove posts offering abortion pills.