Local news outlets across the nation are giving up the seemingly endless struggle to stay afloat and are closing their doors. This adds to what are called “news deserts”: areas where a vacuum exists for local news and information.
Being in a news desert is not good for a community. It runs counter to the need to keep citizens and voters informed. And it’s not good for democracy.
Newspaper profits are down, thanks to increased costs and decreasing readership. And the problem is growing: On average two newspapers close every week in the United States.
At least 1,000 urban and rural communities across the country are in danger of losing their access to a single outlet for reporting local news, according to a 2020 study by the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
The following graph orders U.S. states by those with the most counties that lack a newspaper. The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of counties without a paper, as well as the state's total number of counties. In Alaska, for example, 13 of the state's 30 counties — some 43 percent — are without a newspaper.
| State | Num. counties |
|---|---|
| Iowa | 99 |
| Ohio | 88 |
| Minnesota | 87 |
| Arkansas | 75 |
| Maryland | 24 |
| Wyoming | 23 |
| New Jersey | 21 |
| Arizona | 15 |
| Massachusetts | 14 |
| New Hampshire | 10 |
| Rhode Island | 5 |
| Delaware | 3 |
For the most part, news deserts have formed in rural and low-income communities that have little or no access to newspapers or local broadcast outlets and where many residents may not have access to — or cannot afford — reliable high-speed internet service.
The chart above and the map below show states where a large number of counties are without a newspaper, according to the 2020 University of North Carolina study.
A study released in March by Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication focused on this very issue.
The study group initially found 1,092 news outlets in Washington, but determined that a large percentage of them either didn’t maintain a presence online or didn’t meet its standards for frequency of posting local news or for journalistic standards.
What was left was 353 outlets in 37 of Washington’s 39 counties. Five counties had only one news outlet. Five more have only two. The big difference between the Washington State study and the earlier one from North Carolina: WSU counted news outlets across several media including television, radio, online and magazines, while the UNC study counted newspapers only. In addition, the WSU study found nearly a third of these outlets were owned by national chains.
“A majority of Washington’s local news outlets are single companies and tend to be private family-owned companies, nonprofits, and locally or community-owned organizations,” the study states in its list of key takeaways.
“These are ownership types that are most likely to produce locally situated news coverage. We also find that nonprofit and locally owned outlets tend to have smaller budgets, but more consistent publication frequency.”
Despite the dire findings, the report also cites a number of bright sides: “promising opportunities” to diversify revenue streams, “embracing new strategies to reach expanded audiences” and “increasing collaboration among journalists and news organizations to cover stories in a resource-strapped environment.”
The 2020 University of North Carolina study found only one Washington county without a local news source. A new 2025 Washington State study found two: Ferry and Skamania counties.
Counties shaded in the darker tan color have only one news outlet. Those in the lighter tan have two.
News deserts can result in a decline in community engagement and reduced participation in local affairs. Without local news sources to hold government accountable, residents may become less aware of important issues and may become less trusting of local government.
Local government, on the other hand, can become much less transparent and responsive to residents.
In addition, a lack of local news reporting can make it more difficult for residents to understand or appreciate different perspectives and can contribute to increased polarization within communities.
There’s an even larger danger lurking behind news deserts, wrote Sisi Wei of the Markup, a nonprofit organization that covers California politics — News mirages: “information that looks like trustworthy news — but isn’t news at all,” Wei wrote for Harvard University’s Nieman Journalism Lab.
“Journalists must double-down on finding, publishing, and distributing quality independent information to fill the void. It’s not enough to only dispel the illusions created by news mirages,” Wei wrote. “If we only debunk misinformation without publishing quality information of our own, we have only shifted a news mirage back into a news desert.
“It’s also not just about reporting and publishing stories. It’s about teaching communities how to recognize when they’re being manipulated by technology and how to access good information, that requires community involvement and genuine trust. Instead of only giving communities information, journalists need to do the work that turns that information into usable knowledge.
“It is not: If you build it, they will come,” Wei wrote. “It is: If you build it, deliver it to people.”
Meanwhile, news organizations continue to search for solutions to the expanding desert. Some of those solutions include:
“What I found out is that people care way more about the news than what we think they do,” says Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley in a quote in the WSU study. “When you give them that mix, they fall head over heels in love again. They just have to be reminded why they love local news in the first place.”