MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The erosion of local news infrastructure across the country was the focus of two recent panel discussions at the West Virginia University Reed College of Creative Arts and Media.
“America’s Rural Future: What do we lose without local news?” included MetroNews “Talkline” host emeritus Hoppy Kercheval as the moderator for the first session, with Chris Stirewalt of the American Enterprise Institute moderating the second session, with panelists that included Amelia Ferrell Knisely of West Virginia Watch, Andrew Donaldson of West Virginia Watch and Ordinary Times, Matt Pearce of Rebuild Local News, WVU Journalism professor Dana Coester and Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin.
Across the news industry since 2002, 80 percent of the jobs at newspapers and newsrooms have been slashed. Conventional news sources could not fend off the ease of online news without a subscription in many cases, and younger people were either consuming news from different sources or dropping out of public engagement altogether.
Stirewalt pointed out a study that’s been replicated many times that shows government agencies in communities that lose news organizations pay more to borrow money. Lenders view those communities as higher risk without a public watchdog and the cost is passed onto the taxpayer.
“So, we’re talking about $1.5 billion every year because of the dearth of local news coverage,” Stirewalt said. “Because no one is there to keep them accountable.”
Over the last two decades national news, social media-based news, and content creators have filled that void, making what’s happening at city hall unmoving for the average resident. Goodwin explained a symptom of the fade in local news is evident when she speaks to members of the public in many cases.
“So, they’re chewing and swallowing what they’ve been fed on a national level, not a local level,” Goodwin said. “That is hard because you can’t build a great community if you don’t know what’s going on in your community, so it does a city no favors.”
Pearce said decades ago it was the furniture store, car dealer, and local businessman that saw the value in local news, and the economic model worked. As the business model changed through mass acquisitions and market changes, advertising dollars quickly left local markets.
“If they are advertising on Meta and Instagram, they are sending those dollars to California, and they aren’t coming back,” Pearce said. “If you’re in a city, state, and county government agencies are probably using your taxpayer dollars to advertise with these California companies, so your dollars are out of state and they aren’t coming back.”
Pearce said the economic model for local news has a better chance in affluent communities with people willing to support local journalism. He grew up in a small Missouri town and took a job in Los Angeles because making a living wage reporting local news wasn’t passible.
“We have to build an economic base for local news, and we have to build an economic base for local communities as well so people can actually see a future for themselves, and it makes sense,” Pearce said.
Coester said students get their news from a variety of platforms. But, when asked who they trust when it comes to using it, it’s either a family member or the hometown newspaper where they came from.
“But, they are constantly talking about a desire they have for trusted messengers, and they will voluntarily bring up the local newspaper from where they grew up, and I see a lot of hope in that,” Coester said.