A news desert encompasses a community that is no longer covered by daily or non-daily newspapers or a community that is seriously affected by lack of adequate coverage by local news media sources. The term “news desert” became popular in the United States after hundreds of daily and weekly newspapers were closed in the 2000s and the 2010s, but the term emerged as early as 1980.
According to a study in 2018 by the UNC School of Media and Journalism, more than 1,300 communities in the U.S. are considered news deserts. Other communities, while not technically a news desert, may be covered by a ghost newspaper, a publication that has become a shadow of its former self.
In 2024, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University released a report that found that 1,561 counties in the United States had only one local news organization (e.g. print newspaper, news website, public broadcaster, or ethnic media outlet) while 206 counties had none, that 55 million Americans lived in news desert counties, and that news desert counties had smaller populations, were less densely populated, had lower median household incomes, lower rates of educational attainment, a higher median population age, and higher poverty rates.
A study by the UNC School of Media and Journalism in 2018 discovered more than 1,300 news deserts in the United States. Among the 3,143 counties in the U.S., more than 2,000 no longer had a daily newspaper and 171 counties, with 3.2 million residents combined, had no newspaper at all. People who live in news deserts tend to be poorer, older and less educated than the average American, according to the study. As of 2018, more than 90 counties without a newspaper were in the Southern United States, making it by far the largest news desert in the country.
Google Search How many counties are there in the United States
There are 3,143 counties and county-equivalents in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These include boroughs in Alaska, parishes in Louisiana, and independent cities that function as county-level administrative divisions (Cornellians Chime In: I Visited Every County in the U.S.—and Yes, There’s a Club for That).
Stites, Tom (October 15, 2018 ). About 1,300 U.S. communities have totally lost news coverage, UNC news desert study finds Poynter.50
Metzger, Zach (October 23, 2024). The State of Local News The 2024 Report Medill School of Journalism.
See also …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_desert
