A town without a newspaper loses more than news

During National Newspaper Week, we should all ask what would happen if our local newspaper suddenly disappeared. 

Our community would lose more than headlines. 

We would lose the public record of who voted for what, how tax dollars were spent, and which promises were kept. We would lose the watchdog that asks the hard questions. 

We would also lose the chronicle of daily life: obituaries, births, honor rolls, ballgames, county fairs, veterans programs, business openings, retirements, and the small acts of service that hold a town together. 

A newspaper is not just paper and ink. It is part of the civic fabric that holds a community together. 

That is why the crisis facing local newspapers should concern everyone, not just people in the news business. 

According to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, close to 3,500 newspapers have disappeared in the United States since 2005. In the past year alone, another 148 vanished through closures or mergers. About 50 million Americans now have limited or no access to local news. Nearly 80% of the nation’s news deserts are in predominantly rural counties. 

This did not happen because people stopped needing local news. It happened because the old business model broke down. 

For generations, newspapers were supported by readers, advertisers, and public notices. That worked when downtowns were strong, businesses were locally owned, and advertising decisions were made by people who lived in town. 

The local hardware store bought an ad because its owner lived here, knew the newspaper, and understood that supporting local institutions was part of doing business in the community. 

When that store becomes one location in a regional or national chain, the advertising decision may be made hundreds or thousands of miles away – if there is any local advertising at all. 

The store may still be here. The advertising dollars are not. 

At the same time, more local advertising dollars are flowing to social media and other digital platforms. Those companies can sell clicks. But they do not cover city council meetings, county budgets, school boards, youth baseball, or print every kid on the honor roll. 

Newspapers must modernize. We have to make our websites better, improve our digital products, reach readers in new ways, and become more efficient. 

But technology alone cannot replace a strong local business base. 

Philanthropy can help. Foundations can fund reporting projects, student journalism, technology, and innovation. But grants are a bridge, not a permanent road for most community newspapers. 

There is another part of the equation that deserves more attention. 

Local newspapers have spent decades providing public-service information that government agencies and nonprofit organizations need communities to see – often at no cost. 

There is an important difference between news and public information. 

Reporters should decide what is news. Government agencies should not expect a news story to replace a communications budget. 

If an agency needs the public to understand a tax program, election, health service, school initiative, or government program, it should budget to communicate that information through trusted local media. 

The same is true for nonprofits. 

A news release is not a communications plan. If telling people about available services or important community work is part of the mission, telling that story should also be part of the budget. 

Some states have started to act, creating tax credits and other programs to help protect local journalism jobs. 

Congress should move, too. 

The Community News and Small Business Support Act would help keep or expand local coverage in rural communities while also helping small businesses advertise in their local market. 

That matters because local stores are fighting their own battle. 

They cannot compete online against Amazon, national chains, and big-box retailers with enormous advertising budgets and sophisticated digital marketing operations. 

Helping small businesses advertise locally could strengthen downtown businesses and local news coverage at the same time. 

Saving local news is not about nostalgia. It is about whether communities can still make informed decisions, preserve their shared history, and hold those in power accountable. 

A community without a newspaper does not become better informed. It becomes more dependent on rumor, social media, press releases, and outside narratives. 

It becomes less informed, less connected, and easier to mislead. Accountability weakens. Civic engagement declines. And gradually, a community loses part of its shared identity. 

Newspapers are not dead. But they are fragile, and they are under pressure. 

People still read newspapers. They still value public notices. They still rely on local newspapers to understand their communities. 

In other words, they still matter. Maybe now more than ever. 

Robb Hicks, a third-generation Wyoming newspaperman and Buffalo Bulletin publisher, reopened eight newspapers that abruptly closed in 2025, restoring local coverage and keeping rural communities connected.