When Local News Isn’t Really Local, or News
It’s no secret that hundreds of local newspapers have gone out of business in recent years. It’s a huge challenge for print journalism to compete with the low cost and immediacy of online news. But the desire of citizens to have a local source of news has not diminished.
This created a local news void, and purveyors of partisan rhetoric and marginally documented facts have stepped up to fill the space. Creating low-cost pop-up news sites that appear to be local has allowed some groups to push questionable narratives in place of accurate news reporting.
Many of these so-called news sites feature minimal actual local news. It’s rare to see a story on a local zoning board or a high school sports team. But these sites are loaded with articles focused on political advocacy or support for a specific candidate.
Often these sites, some of which disappear right after elections, are funded by super PACs and other partisan organizations. Their “reporters” often are not located anywhere near the areas the news sites claim to represent.
On the right, organizations such as Metric Media operate hundreds of quasi-local news sites. By far the majority of these sites support conservative causes. But it’s worth noting supporters of Democratic candidates have been accused of doing the same thing.
The first step toward bringing public news consumption back under the umbrella of unbiased journalism is to raise awareness on how such pop-up news sites create a skewed view of local news. But the effort isn’t easy. Schools and the remaining local news organizations will play an ongoing role.
