While since 2004 some 1,800 newspapers shut down, there has been a recent surge in closures owing to the strains of the pandemic with mostly weeklies in small communities ending their coverage. (Poynter, November 20, 2021, by Kristen Hare)
Poynter compiled a comprehensive list of layoffs, furloughs and closures during the pandemic. (Poynter, November 30, 2021, by Kristen Hare)
The Post published a story with instances of local issues that are under reported or missed. “…when we lose local journalism, we lose a fabric that holds together communities; we lose crucial information that allows democracy to function; and at the most basic level, we lose stories that need to be told,” writes the Post. (The Washington Post Magazine, November 30, 2021, by Whitney Joiner, Alexa McMahon and Richard Just)