Medill: “In local news deserts in the U.S., residents rely heavily on social media and other non-journalistic sources to stay informed, according to a comprehensive survey by the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University. The survey revealed that among people who consume news daily in news deserts, a little more than half (51%) said they get local news from non-journalistic sources, like social media groups, influencers and friends and family. This means that by a small margin, more people in news deserts relied on non-journalistic sources than news organizations to keep informed. The survey, conducted for Medill by the national polling firm Qualtrics, asked respondents which local news sources they relied upon. The results showed that among news desert dwellers, there was a strong preference for social media news groups (e.g., Facebook groups and Nextdoor) and local television news. About four in 10 people (42%) said they accessed social news groups daily, and they reported the same figure (41%) for local TV news. These were followed by search engines (35%), friends and family (33%) and social media influencers (30%)…”

See also As Jeff Bezos dismantles The Washington Post, 5 regional papers chart a course for survival “The Washington Post’s evisceration at the hands of its billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, didn’t have to happen. Following months of speculation, the Post cut at least 300 of its 800 journalists on Feb. 4, 2026, drastically reducing its international, local and sports coverage and eliminating its photo department and stand-alone book review section. The downsizing followed several decisions by Bezos that drove away hundreds of thousands of subscribers, from killing the Post’s endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris just before the 2024 election to announcing that the editorial pages would henceforth be dedicated to “personal liberties and free markets.” But though those moves inflicted considerable damage, the paper had been floundering ever since Donald Trump’s first presidential term, when Bezos proudly added the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” to its nameplate and the paper achieved both growth and profitability. While its principal rival, The New York Times, successfully pivoted by rolling out ancillary products such as games, a cooking app and a consumer guide, the Post lost momentum – and was then pushed off a cliff as Bezos, in my view, started placing a higher value on peace with Trump than on making sure that democracy didn’t die in darkness. I’m a journalism professor and the author of three books about the future of news. I tracked Bezos’ stewardship of the Post during better times in my 2018 book, “The Return of the Moguls: How Jeff Bezos and John Henry Are Remaking Newspapers for the Twenty-First Century.” And I’ve been watching in horror over the past several years as he’s dismantled much of what he built. The Times, as the nation’s leading newspaper, is unique, and the extent to which other publishers can learn from its example is limited. But if Bezos ever decides he wants to take journalism seriously again, then he might take a look at a handful of large regional papers that have charted a route to sustainability against the strong headwinds that continue to buffet the news business.”