The local news crisis is accelerating. Last year, the leading news desert watchdog, Northwestern University, reported two newspapers were closing each week. The university’s latest report, released in November, now shows that rate has accelerated to two point five closures per week. The closures have left thousands of news deserts, areas that lack a local news outlet or at imminent risk of losing their last local news outlet, across the country. In California, the counties of Glenn, Sutter, Sierra and Alpine are news deserts, with many other counties only having one newspaper remaining. Some of the last remaining newspapers are ghost newspapers without local staff or with grossly inadequate local coverage. Almost half of the daily newspaper circulation is owned by hedge funds or private equity firms. California is home to at least one local newspaper without a single local reporter.
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