Fading local press raises fears for city democracy

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On both sides of the Atlantic, interest in news is high. The daily dramas of the Trump administration and the rollercoaster of the Brexit negotiations have fuelled sales of online subscriptions to US and UK newspapers grappling with the transition from print to a predominantly digital business model. The picture is bleaker for local newspapers. In the US there has been a hollowing out of a once-mighty sector. Since 2005, when newspaper circulation and advertising revenues were at their highest, there has been a precipitous decline resulting in consolidation by national operators such as Gannett and Digital First Media; slashes to editorial staff; and closures of unprofitable titles, which have left some large areas without a newspaper. “It’s bleak,” says Ken Doctor, an analyst who covers the news industry from his website Newsonomics.com. “The local press is in free fall in the US.”


Fading local press raises fears for city democracy