What percent of American counties do not have a local newspaper?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
A “news desert” is a community where residents have significantly diminished access to important local news and information that feeds grassroots democracy. According to the data from the visual above, how many counties to not have a local newspaper?
According to the data from the visual above, how many counties only have one local newspaper?
News deserts are communities lacking a news source that provides meaningful and trustworthy local reporting on issues such as health, government and the environment. It’s a vacuum that leaves residents ignorant of what’s going on in their world, incapable of fully participating as informed citizens. What’s their local government up to? Who deserves their vote? How are their tax dollars being spent? All are questions that go unanswered in a news desert. Based on the visual above, identify the geographical region of the country that has the most news deserts.
In the past 17 years, more than one-fourth of the country’s newspapers (see visual below*), and one half of all local journalists disappeared. In 1993, there were fewer than 200 websites available on the World Wide Web. Fast forward to 2022, and that figure has grown to 2 billion. Describe some of the main forces responsible for this loss of local reporting?
Historically, strong local newspapers have created a sense of community and nurtured grassroots democracies. Through their journalism, newspapers helped set the agenda for debate of important local issues. But seventy million Americans now live in areas without enough local news to sustain grass-roots democracy, the research shows. As local news disappears, bad things happen: Voter participation declines. Corruption, in business and government, finds more fertile ground. And false information spreads wildly. Make a claim about the most serious consequence of the proliferation of news deserts.
Every week, two more newspapers close — and ‘news deserts’ grow larger. In poorer, less-wired parts of the U.S., it’s harder to find credible news about your local community. How does the spread of news deserts impact democracy?
According to the interactive map below* my county has five newspapers. How do you think having a large number of media outlets impacts local political leadership?
Based on the visual above, how many news desert counties are in your state?
According to Penelope Muse Abernathy, the nation’s foremost expert on “news deserts” “We already live in a polarized country, and part of that polarization stems from our digital divide and our local-news divide. We have to think about how we reach people who aren’t digitally connected, and how we can support efforts that get beyond the city.” Describe one solution to fight American news desertification.
A recent Politico special report titled, Trump thrives in areas that lack traditional news outlets, found that news deserts were particularly fertile ground for support of Donald Trump. Among other insights, It found that:
• Trump’s share of the vote tended to drop in accordance with the amount of homes with news subscriptions: For every 10 percent of households in a county that subscribed to a news outlet, Trump’s vote share dropped by an average of 0.5 percentage points.
• Trump did better than Romney in areas with fewer households subscribing to news outlets but worse in areas with higher subscription rates: In counties where Trump’s vote margin was greater than Romney’s in 2012, the average subscription rate was only about two-thirds the size of that in counties where Trump did worse than Romney.
• Trump struggled against Clinton in places with more news subscribers: Counties in the top 10 percent of subscription rates were twice as likely to go for Clinton as those in the lowest 10 percent. Clinton was also more than 3.7 times as likely to beat former President Barack Obama’s 2012 performance in counties in the top 10 percent compared to those in the lowest 10 percent — the driest of the so-called news deserts.
Make a claim in your own words about the connection between news deserts and Trump support.
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Find out who owns your local newspaper(s) and share your knowledge with your classmates!
Get Creative
If American newspapers were a chain store, what would it be?
Learning Extension
Check out the 2020 state of news deserts report.
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Amendments
10
- Feb 29, 2024 First Amendment
- Feb 28, 2024 Second Amendment
- Feb 27, 2024 Fourth Amendment
- Feb 26, 2024 Fifth Amendment
- Feb 19, 2024 Sixth Amendment
- Feb 18, 2024 Seventh Amendment
- Feb 17, 2024 Eighth Amendment
- Feb 9, 2024 Ninth Amendment
- Feb 5, 2024 Tenth Amendment
- Feb 2, 2024 Fourteenth Amendment
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Foundational Documents
9
- Apr 12, 2024 Declaration of Independence
- Apr 4, 2024 Articles of Confederation
- Apr 3, 2024 The United States Constitution
- Apr 2, 2024 Brutus 1
- Apr 2, 2024 Federalist No. 10
- Apr 2, 2024 Federalist No. 51
- Mar 20, 2024 Federalist No. 70
- Mar 19, 2024 Federalist No. 78
- Aug 5, 2021 Letter From Birmingham Jail
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Supreme Court Cases
14
- Apr 14, 2024 Marbury v. Madison
- Apr 14, 2024 McCulloch v. Maryland
- Apr 12, 2024 Schenck v. United States
- Apr 11, 2024 Brown v. Board of Education
- Apr 10, 2024 Baker v. Carr
- Apr 8, 2024 Engel v. Vitale
- Apr 7, 2024 Gideon v. Wainwright
- Apr 5, 2024 Tinker v. Des Moines
- Apr 4, 2024 New York Times v. US
- Apr 3, 2024 Wisconsin v. Yoder
- Apr 2, 2024 Shaw v. Reno
- Apr 1, 2024 U.S. v. Lopez
- Mar 30, 2024 Citizens United v. F.E.C.
- Mar 27, 2024 McDonald v. Chicago
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UNIT 1
37
- Apr 24, 2024 Impoundment
- Apr 24, 2024 Referendum
- Apr 11, 2024 Federal Mandate
- Apr 11, 2024 Autocracy
- Apr 4, 2024 Articles of Confederation
- Apr 3, 2024 The United States Constitution
- Apr 2, 2024 Categorical grant
- Apr 2, 2024 Block Grant
- Apr 2, 2024 Federalist No. 51
- Mar 20, 2024 Commerce Clause
- Mar 19, 2024 Bicameralism
- Mar 12, 2024 Connecticut Compromise/Great Compromise
- Mar 12, 2024 New Jersey Plan
- Mar 7, 2024 Interstate Compact
- Mar 6, 2024 Shay’s Rebellion
- Mar 6, 2024 Necessary and Proper Clause
- Mar 5, 2024 Reserved Powers
- Mar 5, 2024 Concurrent Powers
- Mar 5, 2024 National Supremacy
- Mar 4, 2024 Virginia Plan
- Mar 1, 2024 Enumerated Powers
- Mar 1, 2024 Natural Rights
- Feb 27, 2024 Popular Sovereignty
- Feb 27, 2024 Federalism
- Oct 12, 2023 Limited Government
- Feb 16, 2023 Pluralist Democracy
- Aug 30, 2019 Elite democracy
- Aug 30, 2019 Participatory democracy
- Mar 20, 2019 Selective Incorporation
- Mar 18, 2019 Expressed Powers
- Feb 9, 2018 Extradition
- Feb 2, 2018 Preemption
- Feb 22, 2017 Eminent Domain
- Feb 21, 2017 Double Jeopardy
- Jan 31, 2017 Refugee
- Jan 20, 2017 Impeachment
- Jan 16, 2017 Implied Powers
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UNIT 2
48
- Jul 5, 2024 Unitary Executive Theory
- May 22, 2024 Commander in Chief
- Apr 25, 2024 Rule of Four
- Apr 18, 2024 Trustee
- Apr 18, 2024 Delegate
- Apr 18, 2024 Politico
- Apr 16, 2024 Congressional Whip
- Apr 15, 2024 Speaker of the House
- Apr 15, 2024 Closed Rule
- Apr 5, 2024 Congressional Committees
- Apr 5, 2024 Rule Making Authority
- Apr 2, 2024 Coattail Effect
- Apr 2, 2024 Signing Statement
- Mar 20, 2024 Congressional Oversight
- Mar 6, 2024 Redistricting
- Mar 6, 2024 Reapportionment
- Mar 5, 2024 Full Faith and Credit Clause
- Mar 5, 2024 Safe Seats
- Feb 19, 2024 Judicial Review
- Feb 16, 2024 Filibuster
- Feb 19, 2019 Bureaucratic Rule-Making
- Feb 19, 2019 White House Staff
- Feb 20, 2018 Conference Committee
- Feb 16, 2018 Office of Management and Budget
- Feb 8, 2018 Precedent
- Feb 7, 2018 Congressional Budget Office
- Jan 30, 2018 Civil Service
- Jan 26, 2018 Federal Register
- Jan 19, 2018 Gerrymander
- Jan 18, 2018 Party Caucus
- Jan 16, 2018 Executive Office of the President
- Jan 11, 2018 Gross domestic product (GDP)
- Mar 3, 2017 Regulation
- Feb 23, 2017 Treaty
- Feb 20, 2017 Executive Privilege
- Feb 14, 2017 Logrolling
- Feb 10, 2017 Fiscal Policy
- Feb 7, 2017 Rally Point
- Feb 6, 2017 Cabinet
- Feb 2, 2017 Senate Confirmation
- Feb 1, 2017 National Security Council
- Jan 28, 2017 Tariff
- Jan 27, 2017 Chief of Staff
- Jan 20, 2017 Impeachment
- Jan 18, 2017 Pocket Veto
- Jan 17, 2017 Entitlements
- Dec 22, 2016 Presidential Honeymoon
- Dec 16, 2016 Cloture
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UNIT 3
21
- Apr 11, 2024 Brown v. Board of Education
- Apr 10, 2024 Baker v. Carr
- Apr 7, 2024 Gideon v. Wainwright
- Apr 5, 2024 Tinker v. Des Moines
- Apr 5, 2024 Docket
- Apr 5, 2024 Mass Movements
- Mar 13, 2024 Establishment Clause
- Mar 13, 2024 Free Exercise Clause
- Mar 13, 2024 Clear and Present Danger Test
- Mar 13, 2024 Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) Brief
- Feb 2, 2024 Fourteenth Amendment
- Mar 20, 2019 Selective Incorporation
- Jan 29, 2018 Commercial Speech
- Jan 17, 2018 Exclusionary Rule
- Jan 15, 2018 White Primary
- Feb 27, 2017 Fighting Words
- Feb 22, 2017 Eminent Domain
- Feb 21, 2017 Double Jeopardy
- Feb 15, 2017 Plea Bargain
- Feb 3, 2017 Civil Disobedience
- Jan 24, 2017 Jim Crow Laws
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UNIT 4
23
- Nov 11, 2024 The Big Sort
- Oct 2, 2024 Waffle House
- May 3, 2024 Reinforcing Cleavages
- May 3, 2024 Cross-Cutting Cleavages
- Apr 22, 2024 Gender Gap
- Apr 22, 2024 Political Socialization
- Apr 16, 2024 Political Culture
- Mar 20, 2024 Entitlements
- Mar 19, 2024 American Dream
- Mar 19, 2024 Socialism
- Mar 19, 2024 Libertarianism
- Mar 14, 2024 Federal Reserve
- Mar 14, 2024 Sampling Error
- Mar 14, 2024 Exit Polls
- Mar 14, 2024 Public Opinion
- Mar 13, 2024 Conservativism
- Mar 13, 2024 Liberalism
- Mar 13, 2024 Political Ideology
- Mar 12, 2024 Fiscal Policy
- Mar 12, 2024 Monetary Policy
- Mar 12, 2024 Political Efficacy
- Mar 29, 2019 Rule of Law
- Feb 28, 2017 Ethnocentrism
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UNIT 5
37
- Oct 1, 2024 Beagle
- Jun 25, 2024 Horse Race Journalism
- Apr 25, 2024 Voter Turnout
- Apr 25, 2024 Purple State/Swing State
- Apr 25, 2024 Blue State
- Apr 25, 2024 Red State
- Apr 24, 2024 Off-Year Election
- Apr 22, 2024 Cracking
- Apr 22, 2024 Packing
- Apr 22, 2024 Rational choice theory
- Apr 22, 2024 Party line voting
- Apr 16, 2024 Divided Government
- Apr 5, 2024 Political Polarization
- Apr 5, 2024 Mass Movements
- Apr 2, 2024 Coattail Effect
- Mar 22, 2024 Bundling
- Mar 22, 2024 Party Convention
- Mar 22, 2024 Name Recognition
- Mar 20, 2024 Term Limits
- Mar 20, 2024 Party Platform
- Mar 12, 2024 Primary election
- Mar 12, 2024 Caucus election
- Mar 12, 2024 PAC
- Mar 12, 2024 Super PAC
- Mar 11, 2024 Midterm Election
- Mar 11, 2024 Bipartisan
- Mar 11, 2024 Lobbyist
- Mar 11, 2024 Single Member District
- Mar 6, 2024 Selective Exposure
- Mar 6, 2024 Linkage Institutions
- Mar 5, 2024 Safe Seats
- Mar 5, 2019 Spoils System
- Jan 22, 2018 Closed Primary
- Jan 19, 2018 Gerrymander
- Mar 13, 2017 Realigning Election
- Feb 3, 2017 Civil Disobedience
- Jan 11, 2017 Party Identification