Lose Local News, Lose Local Trust

The Big Story: Most U.S. counties have little to no local news sources

“An uptick in newspaper closures this year has left more than half of the nation’s 3,143 counties — or 55 million people — with just one or no local news sources where they live…The U.S. saw 127 newspapers close in the last year at a rate of roughly two and a half per week.”

Be a lifeline to the local news you need

By David Jarrard

3-minute read

It’s time to invest in trust, healthcare leaders. You say you’re concerned about the rise of pernicious misinformation.

You say that poisonous disinformation is leading your patients to make bad choices about their health, not to mention bad decisions about policy and politics that directly affect your organization and your community.

You say you have a deeply troubling sense that the culture war over COVID vaccines was a foretaste of public health crises to come.

Helpless, you say? What can you do, besides wring your hands and “tut-tut” as you scroll through your news feed?

Here’s what: Invest in trust.

Invest in your local news organizations. Local newspapers. Local radio news. Local digital sites. Local television news. Spend money here. Now.

Credible, local news outlets are – by far – the most trusted sources of news and information in every community you serve.

Our industry – and your health system, and your community – needs every trusted voice it can get.

“Local news is an essential lever to a healthy democracy; it helps communities understand what’s at stake in local elections, equips them to get involved in the political process by voting, contacting officials and running for office, reduces political polarization, and holds public officials accountable,” says The American Journalism Project.

“Research shows that the loss of local news is having an insidious effect on our democracy — contributing to polarization, decrease in voting, and government accountability.”

The demise of local news is insidious to democracy. It’s threatening to the delivery of good healthcare.

But just when the need for local trusted voices is the greatest, local news is fighting an existential struggle.

Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism’s annual “State of Local News” released Thursday says, “As news organizations continue to contract, news deserts – areas that lack consistent local reporting that fills critical information needs – continue to expand. In this report we found that there are 208 counties across the country without any news source…and 1,563 counties with only one source. Altogether, this means that almost 55 million people in the United States have limited to no access to local news.

People trust their physicians, nurses and hospital leaders more than any other voices when it comes to questions of health and health policy. You’ve got the high ground. You know this in your gut.

But merely having a trusted voice is not enough. You were reminded of this in 2020. You must use that voice. Your message must have a credible messenger riding a credible vehicle – otherwise, your good words are just trees falling in the forest all by their lonesome.

Do you wonder why patients sometimes make uninformed – or even aggressively ignorant – decisions about their health or health policy?

Maybe it’s because there’s no news source in your community they trust to inform them. In local news deserts, they’re left to the tender mercies of cable “news” panels, TikTok pundits and care-less politicians.

Trusted local media can’t tell trustworthy stories if those organizations no longer exist.

But there are signs of hope. There is action you can take.

The news about local news is not all dire. There were 52 new local news outlets launched in 2023, most standalone digital newsrooms. Press Forward has pledged half a billion dollars to support local news, and there are legislative efforts in 13 states to strengthen local news.

These are small but encouraging sparks. There are likely some embers burning in your market.

Fan these little flames.

Invest in your local news outlets, including the established players and the start-ups. Like few other local community heavyweights, you have the money, and you need the voices.

Take a fraction of your 2025 marketing spend and invest it in local reporters and local newsrooms doing local news.

It’s true, you won’t like everything they report. They will even ask you hard questions. That’s good. It’s a sign of journalists doing their job. Good questions and vibrant local conversations are the foundation of trust building.

Trust-building today is good medicine and worthy of your investment.

Local news is not a panacea to the plague of mis- and disinformation that infects our culture. But it cannot be cured without it.

Contributors: Emme Nelson Baxter

Image Credit: Drew Do