Essays & News

 

Is local journalism dying? Look closer.

by | Mar 10, 2021

Originally published in Poynter

Here are four major challenges to journalism today and four attempts to confront them that are worth watching.

“Chaos often breeds life when order breeds habit,” wrote Henry Adams.

So it is for the news business today. It is fashionable in some quarters to say local journalism is dying. But look closer. Amid the difficult search for a new economic model, a skeptical, polarized public and serious reflection over longstanding practices, the field is also full of dreamers, problem solvers and pioneers charting new ways to live up to enduring responsibilities.

I hope to highlight the dreamers here from time to time. Here are four major challenges to journalism today and four attempts to confront them that are worth watching.