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Do You Live in a News Desert? [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-11-15  

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Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media

www.cislm.org

U.S. News Deserts The U.S. has lost nearly one-quarter of the local newspapers in existence in 2004. Many of the remaining newspapers are “ghosts” of their former selves, owned and or operating by hedge funds and private equity funds that employ aggressive cost-cutting that erodes the quality and quantity of local news. In this project, we define a news desert as: a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level. Explore more about this project's definition. The News Desert Project documents areas of the country at risk of becoming “news deserts” while also working with dozens of news organizations to create sustainable business strategies. The Center defines a “news desert” as “a community, either rural or urban, where residents have limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level.” [… The article goes on to list additional resources. ]

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You know what thrives in a news desert?

News Cactuses — aka Misinformation and Disinformation, in the modern vernacular.

www.britannica.com has a pretty good definition for both of those ‘invaders’ on the information landscape.

Don’t get too close. You just might regret that encounter.

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Something — or someone — will always rise up and try to fill that “information void.” Most people have an innate desire to learn and to be informed. In the absence of credible sources, ‘incredulous’ sources will often suffice ...

Nothing to see there … nothing at all.

Incredible as it may seem ...

“One man’s garbage, is another man’s treasure.” The saying goes, although the source for this observation is debatable.

“Nature abhors a vacuum.” The origins of this truism is a bit more solid.

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Do You Live in a News Desert?

www.usnewsdeserts.com

[Has a search tool, by state.]

No worries … Social Media will step up and ‘educate’ those thirsty for knowledge.

For good … or for ill.

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Of course some will say, it’s just “social evolution” and the “idea of progress,” unwinding to find their ultimate, inevitable states.

Or expressed, in meme form, from Jurassic Park (the original) …

Life … uh … finds a way.

Hopefully that “new way” doesn’t rise up, and trample the tourists.

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Can we run that experiment again …

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