Digital News Sites Can't Make Up Loss of Newspapers

Newspapers across the United States are shutting down at an alarming rate of more than two per week, exacerbating an ongoing crisis in local journalism, as detailed in the 2024 State of Local News Report from Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative, released by the Medill School of Journalism on October 23, 2024. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the report found that 130 newspapers closed in the past year alone, contributing to a total loss of over 3,200 print newspapers since 2005, when the industry peaked with 8,891 papers. This rapid decline has left more than half of the nation’s 3,143 counties—home to 55 million people—with just one or no local news outlet, creating what researchers call "news deserts."

The Local News Initiative, led by Tim Franklin, the John M. Mutz Chair in Local News at Northwestern’s Medill School, highlights how this trend is deepening the erosion of community-centered journalism. 

The closures have been driven by a collapse in advertising revenue, which once sustained the industry. In 2005, the top 500 U.S. news outlets had a combined circulation of over 50 million; today, that figure has plummeted to 10 million, per the Alliance for Audited Media. Employment in newspaper publishing has similarly dwindled, dropping from a robust workforce to fewer than 100,000 nationwide, with newsroom jobs—once a third of the total—particularly hard-hit.

The impact is stark: over 1,500 counties now rely on a single news source, often a weekly paper, while 228 have none at all, up from 204 the previous year. This loss of coverage deprives communities of vital information needed for informed decision-making, weakening local democracy. The report notes that while large chains owned by hedge funds or private equity firms dominate the industry—sometimes recirculating content across multiple papers—digital news sites are growing, with 704 standalone local outlets identified by late 2024. However, these digital efforts haven’t offset the newspaper closures, as their scale and resources often pale in comparison.

The crisis has prompted varied responses. Some newspapers have been sold back to local ownership, which tends to prioritize on-the-ground reporting, but mergers and acquisitions by regional chains are more common, often prioritizing profit over depth. Philanthropy is stepping in—over $500 million was pledged in 2023 by groups like the Knight Foundation—yet it’s a partial fix. Legislative efforts, like New York’s $90 million Newspaper and Broadcast Media Jobs Program, aim to bolster the industry, but federal initiatives have stalled.