Do You Miss a Local Newspaper?

National news is important, but community news is what impacts our daily lives

Graphic created by the author

Recently I explained why I have done something I never thought I’d do: I canceled my subscription to the local newspaper.

Read that story here:

After Four Decades, I Canceled the Orlando Sentinel

I genuinely miss the local paper, but I don’t miss what the Orlando Sentinel has become.

JoAnne Wallis left this comment:

I’m experiencing the same types of problems with our local paper. After a couple of corporate transfers of ownership, our local paper really isn’t local anymore. It makes me sad to see the homogenization of newspapers across our country.

I understand why small local papers are disappearing at an alarming rate. I also understand the economic drivers behind the consolidation of resources and shrinking of even the major daily papers. I don’t like it, it saddens me, but it’s reality.

The question is: What can be done?

Not long ago, I was listening to The Crossman Conversation. On his podcast, John Crossman interviewed Marvin Olasky, who talked about how local journalism is essential for the survival of democracy.

Here’s an article Crossman published about the interview:

Can Trust in Journalism and Local News Reporting be Restored?

Olasky talked about the Reforming Journalism Project and how it was teaching people how to create local websites with local news and turn them into sustainable business models.

You can listen to the podcast here: