Thursday was the first national Local News Day, an effort organized by the Montana Free Press and others to highlight the role local journalists play in keeping their communities informed.
An estimated 1,300 newsrooms across the country participated in the effort, which Montana Free Press hopes will “spark a national movement that sustains local news for generations.”
In Oregon, Local News Day was preceded by more evidence that Northwest news deserts are expanding, not shrinking. On Wednesday, the editorial staff at the Roseburg News-Review arrived in their office to find pink slips on their desks, according to staff who spoke to The Western Edge. The Southern Oregon newspaper’s owner, Lotus Media, told staff that producing a paper had become “unsustainable” and that “this platform will shift away from a traditional news model.”
What those layoffs mean in practice is hiring people to produce entertainment video clips and rehash press releases from local government under an alleged banner of informing the community. What it means in the broader sense? Another large swath of Oregon has no dedicated local news source.
The Western Edge has long been documenting expanding news deserts in the Pacific Northwest and their deleterious effects; so on the first Local News Day, we wanted to bring you some of our reporting on the News-Review’s closure and a pitch about why letting local news die is catastrophic to the entire media ecosystem.
And — perhaps it should go without saying — it is a great time to get a paid subscription to The Western Edge. Smash that subscribe button, as the kids say.
