Self-governance, the ability of a community to manage its own affairs, depends on local news. Not international, national, or political news. Not regional or state news, though the latter can provide context for local decisions. What matters is news of municipal government, the schools, public safety, and the work of a town’s many departments and volunteer boards. Such coverage is beyond the means of Greater Boston’s regional papers like the Worcester Telegram, the Lowell Sun, or Boston Globe. Infinity in a grain of sand.
Study after study has shown that there is no substitute for a local outlet that can focus on a particular municipality, whether digital, broadcast, or print. Without it, voter turnout and participation at Town Meeting declines, leaving a town vulnerable to well-organized special interests. Bond ratings drop, raising the cost of municipal borrowing. Mismanagement goes unchallenged, and threats to safety and health go unreported.
According to the latest report of the Medill Institute at Northwestern University, “The State of Local News 2023,” 2023 was not a good year for local news. The country continued to lose papers, mostly weeklies, at the rate of two per week—2,900 since 2005, 130 closures in the past year alone, many in New England.
Medill estimates there are roughly 6,000 newspapers left in the U.S.: 4,790 weeklies, like the Press, and approximately 1,200 dailies. An “early warning system” introduced by Medill for the first time this year says an additional 228 papers—the only source of news in their counties—are at risk.
Medill finds hope in a number of entrepreneurial startups, though a majority are confined to affluent communities like Harvard, Groton, or Concord with the readership and resources to sustain them. But achieving sustainability is an ongoing challenge for us all. In its report, Medill reports on 17 new business models for legacy and startup organizations in a variety of markets. All but one are locally owned and accountable, suggesting, they say, that local news operations “with entrepreneurial owners and community support” have a much better chance at achieving sustainability. But moving from a successful startup, energized by volunteers and contributors willing to work for below-market wages, to a sustainable enterprise is a journey that few have mastered.
That’s a finding confirmed by Northeastern University professor Dan Kennedy and former Globe editor Ellen Clegg in their recently published book, “What Works in Community News” (Beacon Press). Independent local leadership is crucial, they write. “The local news crisis will be solved one community at a time.”
The Press is blessed with the support of its sustaining subscribers and loyal advertisers. With your help we look forward to delivering the news in 2024 that Harvard needs to self-govern and grow as a community. We hope some of you will join us at our open house Friday, Jan. 26, to learn more about how the Press delivers the news and how we might work together to ensure it continues to do so for many years to come.
