For Northwestern University's 2025 news report, they estimated that almost 40% of all local U.S. newspapers have vanished, leaving 50 million Americans with limited or no access to a reliable source of local news. The local newspapers that haven't closed their doors have immensely reduced their operations, cutting the amount of reporters in the newsroom from hundreds to just dozens and working out of rented office spaces instead of downtown buildings.
I am no expert on the economics of news, but you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. The enterprise of news continues to face two intractable problems: the erosion of its business model, dependent upon print advertising; and the countless attempts by ideologues to undermine its credibility. As more people - especially a younger demographic - encounter the world on their phones, newspapers as objects are disappearing, along with many of the journalists who created them.
