A news desert refers to a community that is no longer covered by daily or nondaily newspapers. The term emerged in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
after hundreds of daily and weekly newspapers were closed in the 2000s and the 2010s. According to a study in 2018 by the
UNC School of Media and Journalism
The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media (locally regarded as "the J school") is a nationally accredited professional undergraduate and graduate level journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The school, founde ...
, 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.
Background
The total number of newspapers in the U.S. fell from 8,891 in 2004 to 7,112 in 2018, a decline of 1,779 newspapers, including more than 60 daily newspapers. Of the remaining publications, an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 newspapers were considered ghost newspapers after scaling back their news coverage so much that they were unable to fully cover their communities.
Extent
In 2017, the
Columbia Journalism Review
The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...
released a map of news deserts across the United States. It showed that
Collin County and
Williamson County in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, with a combined population of nearly 1.3 million people, were among the largest news deserts in the country. Other notable news deserts include
Ellis County, Texas
Ellis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2020, its population was estimated to be 192,455. The county seat is Waxahachie. The county was founded in 1849 and organized the next year. It is named for Richard Ellis, pres ...
and
Alamance County, North Carolina
Alamance County (), from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved September 18, 2012. is a county in North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 171,415. Its county seat ...
. Some of those communities, however, may be covered by very small newspapers with a circulation of less than 1% or all-digital news outlets.
A study in 2018 by the UNC School of Media and Journalism found more than 1,300 news deserts in the United States. Of 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
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, making it by far the largest news desert in the country.
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See also
* Decline of newspapers
The decline of newspapers is an example and means of which to understand and observe the changing values of a culture. Whether newspapers are declining in popularity is region dependent. Data supports that in the U.S and Europe popularity and sa ...
References
{{Reflist
History of newspapers
Journalism