News Deserts

News deserts is a term that refers to communities that are no longer "covered" by daily newspapers. They have limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at more of a local level. 

Over 1,300 communities in the United States are considered news deserts as of 2018. We saw the biggest decline in the early 2000's, which is when "new deserts" was coined. News quantity and quality is at a steep decline due to financial constraints in the industry. These news deserts are worrisome because often the closing of local papers can leave communities without the watchdogs that can keep municipalities accountable and productive. At this point, news deserts have become so prominent that Facebook reported that it can't even find enough local news to fill users' feeds. 

Some economic problems that have risen stem from state lawmakers taking matters into their own hands. For example, NJ leaders agreed on a new state budget that includes a whopping $5 million in funding for innovative projects to improve local news in the state. Some of these efforts seek to establish new business models that will enhance local news, but at this point it is too late and there is not enough money to fix this problem.

News deserts effect different segments of society in different ways. For example, those apart of the upper and lower classes. Lower class citizens who may not be able to afford cable to watch news on TV result to reading the local paper, but without the local paper and a rise in news deserts, the future of news intake for lower class individuals doesn't look so bright. This concept applies for the older generation as well; the traditional way to follow the news, is to read the paper and without news papers...they will have to start watching the news on TV.

I don't think news desert necessarily effect me. Although I want to go into print journalism, everything is pretty much online and that is where I see my work being displayed. No one, including myself, reads the paper in my family so I don't think their slow decline effects us all that much.