The Decline of Local News Coverage could Impact Who and What Americans Care About

General elections are just weeks away, and while people are bombarded with news on the fate of the House majority, across the country there will be a number of local races that will affect residents for years to come. Local Ballot Measures, County and City Candidate Races, School District Candidate Races and Special District Candidate Races are all on the ballot. Who Americans choose and what they choose locally, will directly impact pocketbooks and ways of life more immediately.

Information on measures and candidates is key to knowing where Americans should cast their votes. Studies show that while it once was the norm of newspapers to cover in detail the measures and candidates of communities, such coverage is becoming less everyday. The decline of local news agencies struggling to maintain audience attention and advertising dollars comes as big platforms and social media news sites consume the lion’s share.

While consumer behaviors change, local and regional news take a hit, resulting in staffing cuts and business model adjustments. At stake is journalism which holds authorities to standards of transparency and accountability. Investigative journalism and community coverage have given way to general-assignment reporters wearing way too many hats to be as effective as they’d like to be in reporting.

Business models have changed to one that is more focused on news marketability so that the mundane, though important, isn’t always covered. Local city councils, and candidates fall into this category, unless there’s something significant happening. News is now dependent on the readership metrics of each article, that is, the number of clicks it receives from general audiences.

According to a study done by The University of Texas (Austin) on Newspaper Decline and the Effects on Local Government Coverage (2019), the result is that news coverage has become more reactive. Instead of reporting to residents the changes in the pipeline discussed at local council meetings, which allowed citizens to become involved in the proposed policy while still in the early stages, journalists are relegated to covering the effects of the proposal as it is happening or about to happen. The danger of such coverage is that the representatives do not have the opportunity to interact with their representatives before that change happens, and the press loses influence and its ability to keep authority accountable. “The public becomes less empowered and less able to influence public policy,” the study states.

Less information locally means less turnout at elections. Less coverage of candidates results in less competition for the seats they hold. Candidates facing less competition may begin to act in their own interest if they feel less accountable to Americans. The study suggests “When officials feel less watched by local press and less likely to be challenged by competitor candidates in the next election, they may behave differently—and likely not in ways that are better for the taxpayers.”

Lack of information at local and regional levels are detrimental to democracy in the most fundamental way. As one editor in the study said, “It certainly would depress voter turnout because if you don’t even know that there’s an election or you don’t know what’s at stake with the election or don’t know anything about the people running, why would you bother to vote?”’