News deserts are expanding across America like an unchecked virus—and doing just as much damage in the process. According to a 2020 study by the nonprofit PEN America, news deserts have drastic implications for democracy. When a local newspaper closes, government officials turn evil. They’re less efficient, less effective, and have higher levels of corruption. Yet, they don’t have to worry much about getting voted out of office because people living in news deserts vote less, aren’t politically informed, and are less likely to run for office themselves.
It’s difficult to prevent the growth of these deserts, though. That same PEN study found that newspapers lost $35 billion in ad revenue over the last 15 years. As a result, according to a 2022 report by the Local News Initiative, over 2,500 newspapers have closed, with the country on track to lose a third of its newspapers by 2025. In fact, the report states we’re losing two newspapers a week, many of them small-town weeklies.
The result: a fifth of the country currently lives in a news desert. That’s 70 million people. Over 200 counties in the U.S. don’t have a newspaper. Over 1,600, including many of Iowa’s 99 counties, only have one newspaper, usually an underfunded weekly just trying to get by while covering multiple communities with a tiny staff.
Now, that’s a lot of doom and gloom, and something every JMM’er should be concerned about. But last week local news was handed a lifeline. Press Forward, a coalition of 22 nonprofits like the Knight Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and Henry Luce Foundation, promised to donate $500 million over the next five years to support local news initiatives. While the specifics haven’t been announced, Press Forward wants the money to go towards strengthening local newsrooms, amplifying environmental coverage, increasing coverage of underserved and underrepresented communities, and bolstering public policies that prop up local news coverage. The organization is also working with More Perfect, a bipartisan group focusing on the protection of democracy, to ensure the funds help keep citizens informed about what their government is doing.
It’s a transformative amount of money, more than what either Google ponied up with the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund or Facebook did with the Facebook Journalism Project. The Press Forward funds, in fact, are filling the void those initiatives recently left, Mark Zuckerberg and Co. shutting down the $300 million FJP last fall, part of its effort to de-emphasize news on the platform. As for the Google project: The home page for the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund 404’s out now—page not found.
Some are speculating that some of the funding could go to non-profit news centers. There are plenty to choose from. States Newsroom, a donation-based non-profit, has dramatically impacted the coverage of state politics across the country. It currently supports newsrooms in 32 states including the Iowa Capitol Dispatch. Courier Newsroom, the company behind the lefty-leaning Iowa Starting Line, has nine newsrooms covering local and state politics. Propublica has the Local Reporting Network, which helps finance and amplify local investigative work. And the American Journalism Project is sponsoring roughly 40 newsrooms across the country, including The Beacon in Kansas City and the Nebraska Journalism Trust out of Omaha.
Of course, all of those are online publications, which is great for some. Not so great for those in news deserts, though, since those folks are also most likely living in rural areas without broadband. And, according to the Local News Initiative, digital replacements for lost print publications often don’t get the traffic of even local TV news sites. What’s worse, those organizations often cover defined niches—politics, policy, etc.—and are often targeted at urban and suburban audiences, not those in news deserts.
Hopefully, Press Forward can begin to sort out some of the highly complex difficulties. It’s going to take a lot of work, and probably more than $500 million, but it’s a start. And with a massive election looming, along with growing worries about AI-generated mis- and dis-information, any help is greatly needed.
OK, now on with the memo!
Stack ‘Em High
It’s been another good week for Drake SJMC and student media. A plethora of Drake Mag, Urban Plains, Drake Political Review, and Times-Delphic work were named Pinnacle finalists. Here’s the Rundown:
1. Best Arts and Entertainment Story: “Radio Resonates,” by recent MMJ grad CJ Younger, Urban Plains.
2. Best Enterprise Coverage of Diversity: “The Last Gay Bar in Lincoln,” by recent MBM grad Sydney Hamilton, Urban Plains.
3. Best Feature Story as well as Best Sports Feature Story: “For the Dogs,” also by CJ Younger, Urban Plains.
4. Best Feature Story: “The Importance of Drake’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic,” by MMJ senior Lia Reichmann, Times-Delphic.
5. Best General News Story: “Dirty Dodge Gets a Facelift,” by MMJ grad Grace Altenhofen, Urban Plains.
6. Best Editorial Illustration as well as Best Magazine News Page/Spread: “The State of Hate,” by GD major and Mags minor Princess Hart, Drake Mag.
7. Best Editorial Illustration: “A Perspective on the Proposed Carbon Pipeline,” again by Princess Hart, this time for Drake Political Review.
8. Best Magazine Contents Page: MBM grad Annie Peterson for Drake Mag.
9. Best Magazine Entertainment Page/Spread: “Art for All,” Patrick Lucas, Drake Mag.
10. Best Magazine Feature Page/Spread: “Falling for Figs,” Annie Peterson, Drake Mag.
That’s 12 finalist nominations for 10 different pieces of work this week, on top of last week’s Best Portrait nom for Paige Minor and Drake Mag’s Best Feature Magazine nomination. Not bad at all.
Get Creative
Every journalist has a creative side. We all have a notebook of drawings or a partial novel saved on Google Drive. But we don’t often give ourselves permission to bathe in our creativity, really soak in it. We’re too busy telling other people’s stories.
But Periphery, Drake’s literary and art journal, has a couple of opportunities for you to do just that. First up, submissions are now open for the journal. So why not blow the dust off that short story and send it in? Second, the journal is hiring two new staff editors and an assistant art director, you really don’t have an excuse to hold back. Applications are due by Sept. 23. You can both apply and submit at peripheryjournal.com.
In the Mood to Mingle
Remember last week, when you were young, innocent, and not a free member of the Broadcast Education Association? Those were good times. But now, you’re a grizzled BEA veteran member ready to take on anything, including a night of online networking. On Wed., Sept. 13, at 6 p.m. a series of industry execs, including VP News Director of WISHTV Al Carl, early career recruiter for Hearst Television Jen Harriger, and director of NBC Sports Group Kamal Bhangle, will give you tips, tricks, and contacts to help launch your career in broadcast media. As they say, membership has its privileges.
Digging Deeper
As we all know, America is mid political mitosis, splitting down the middle along party lines. And while that makes having a conversation with Uncle Jerry difficult, it also significantly impacts our ability to report. Folks on both sides are skeptical of the media. Some flat-out hate us. Which is why Phillip Martin, the senior investigative reporter for GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting, will host a webinar on how to navigate all the vitriol. The free event, hosted by the New England Newspaper & Press Association, will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 14. You can register here.
On the Record
Back in early August, when the local police raided the offices of the Marion County Record, the cops claimed that the Kansas paper had illegally obtained the driving records of a local citizen. But like many people, Police Chief Gideon Cody and his team were unaware you can find all sorts of public records online and for free, including driving records.
Learning how to access those records can be challenging, though. That’s why the National Press Club is hosting a training session with Tampa Bay Times investigative reporter Caryn Baird, who will walk you through how to find everything from criminal records to someone’s maiden name. The Sept. 15 webinar is free and begins at 10:30 a.m. You can register here.
Want to Join the Share Circle?
Do you have some essential info or just got named the new Updates Editor for Forbes Home after completing your Forbes Summer Fellowship like recent MBM grad Cassidy Grubisic? If you do, send it on over to jeff.inman@drake.edu. JMM will treat it like this ridiculously good article from 2011 News grad Matt Vasilogambros about the growing movement in eastern Oregon to succeed from that state and join bordering Idaho and tell everyone about it.
Finally, make sure to double-check your designs.