NEWS DESERTIFICATION: The Modern Geography of Journalism in the United States

Abstract

News reporting is an invaluable force of democracy that informs public decisions. Journalism, in its essence, is a mechanism for information dissemination and transparency. In the past fifteen years, the rise of the internet has accelerated the death of print newspapers. Though the medium of distributing information is changing, the mission of journalism should be upheld. Across the country, however, news and internet publishing organizations have coastalized, consolidated, and closed completely. Many communities across the country have become news deserts — they no longer have reliable and consistent local reporting. This paper aims to explore the spatial patterns and relationships of news desertification in the United States while aiming to understand its implications in the context of an age of decreasing trust in journalism.