“In America, the president reigns for four years, and journalism governs forever and ever,” author Oscar Wilde once said. For generations, the press has acted as a watchdog, exposing corruption and holding those in power accountable. From Gilded Age muckrakers to the investigative journalists of today, journalism has shaped public awareness and fueled democracy.
However, journalism is experiencing a seismic shift. There is an increasing effort by bad actors to weaponize journalism against the public by spreading misinformation and creating polarizing content. In the past decade, the industry has witnessed a disturbing trend of media consolidation, a process in which large media corporations buy up smaller news houses. Media conglomerates are rapidly consolidating control, thereby converting journalism from a platform for accountability into an engine of division and misinformation, posing perhaps the greatest threat to the democratic integrity. These corporations are swallowing independent outlets, gutting newsrooms and centralizing control over the information that we receive. Local newspapers, the bedrock of community accountability, are vanishing at an alarming rate. Specifically, financial pressures have led many news outlets to prioritize monetary gains. Firms like Alden Global Capital buy struggling papers, slash jobs and sacrifice quality journalism at the altar of profits. This in turn results in setbacks to investigative reporting and the erosion in public trust of the media.
According to a study conducted by Northwestern University, the U.S. has lost 43,000 local journalists, leaving entire regions in the dark. Rural communities depend on local news sources to get reliable and accurate information. These dark spots or ‘news deserts’ are spreading across the country, stripping people of access to reliable reporting on government, policy and everyday affairs. Without informed citizens, democracy falters. Corruption festers. Misinformation fills the void. And when journalism disappears, so does the public’s ability to hold those in power accountable.
The top 25 news companies today employ nearly 40% of all the United States’ print and news journalists, a figure that has drastically increased from 15% in 2008. For example, major corporations like News Corp, The New York Times Company and New Media Investment Group have absorbed numerous independent outlets. In particular, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s expansion has placed 191 local TV stations under its control, harming more than 40% of the U.S. population. An Emory University study found that Sinclair’s acquisition of local news stations increased national politics coverage by 25%, sacrificing local news for cost efficiency. Before 2021, the company distributed segments from political advisors as commentary. It was easier to spot the difference between actual commentary and views of a political party spokesperson. In 2021, they launched “The National Desk”, marketing it as a “comprehensive, commentary-free” overview of national and regional news from those same political advisors. Now, anything coming from “The National Desk” looks more convincing and feels more like legitimate news.
Similarly, other large media conglomerates tend to print one story in multiple outlets, causing the same information to be spread to people without any nuances or different perspectives.
“Mainstream media tries to get out news the fastest, so they often don’t cover all the facts they need,” President of Lambert Student Ambassadors Rahul Menon explained. “No one reports full details and it’s a lot of repetition.”
When large scale news corporations try to capitalize on sensationalism, they often flood media outlets with the same stories over and over again, fostering misinformation in the process. For example, in 2014, CNN’s coverage of the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, became so outlandish over the nearly two months of continuous reporting that they even suggested that a black hole may have swallowed it. CNN’s parent company, Warner Brothers, also spread this information to other networks under the conglomerate.This information also spread to other Warner Bros. owned news networks. This type of reporting also occurs in the political sphere. Without local journalism, reporting loses its diversity and nuance, homogenizing news and ultimately harming civic engagement.
This is further exemplified when we look at elections. A study conducted by Cambridge University demonstrates that with the decline of local news outlets fewer Americans knew who their local elected officials were. The voter turnout in local elections also had significantly plummeted. The lack of robust reporting on local issues visibly exacerbated these impacts in ‘news deserts’ like South Dakota, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Middle America has suffered the most due to closures and counties in high poverty areas are at the most risk of future closures. This gap in coverage also leads to unchecked misinformation, political disengagement and diminished democratic participation. Most of all, in such communities, voters are more likely to vote on a party line basis, increasing polarization due to a lack of information.
Young people, including students here at Lambert, are among the most negatively impacted by the decline of local journalism. They rely heavily on social media for news, but with fewer reputable local outlets, they are more vulnerable to misinformation, algorithm-driven echo chambers and partisan distortions. Without access to credible, in-depth reporting on local issues, young people struggle to make informed decisions, weakening their political engagement. For example, in 2016 thousands of people were convinced that the Clintons and many of their associates ran a pedophilia ring out of a Washington D.C. pizzeria. The disinformation led to a mass shooting incident at the Comet Pizzeria, the center of accusations. The impact of misinformation resulted in more than just a lost election but ultimately lost lives, showing how faulty reporting caused by media consolidation is detrimental to society.
By applying critical inquiry, reading and reflection skills, students here at Lambert can be certain that they are aware and civically engaged. One of the best ways to do so is by reading local newspapers to gain an understanding of the perspective of their community. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Patch are both great resources that students can start with.
“I have shifted my news sources away from just Instagram and CNN or Fox to include local news,” Menon added. “I look at three different news sources and only if all of those are saying the same thing, then I believe it.”
By incorporating local news sources into media consumption, people can have a better understanding of what is happening at both the local and national scales.
However, without action by the community to protect local journalism, the problem still remains. Media consolidation erodes local journalism, creating a vacuum in civic engagement and weakening democratic institutions. To preserve our democracy, we must champion robust local reporting and resist the centralization of media power, ensuring that informed, engaged communities can thrive across our nation. Lambert students can be a big part of the change by engaging with local news and consuming media more critically. Ultimately, by revitalizing local journalism, people can be more civically engaged and take an active role in governance and policy.
