The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of America’s oldest newspapers, announced this month that it would cease publication. The family-owned company that operates the paper made the announcement after a court ruled against it in a dispute with unionized workers. Pittsburgh is hardly alone. Since 2005, more than 3,500 newspapers have shuttered. On average, two close every week.
The consequences of the collapse of the local newspaper business have been severe. When communities lose their local news outlets, civic engagement drops, corruption rises, government waste increases and political polarization worsens. Communities no longer know themselves. No number of headlines about goings-on in Washington can change that.
But the death of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does not mean that Pittsburghers must go without local news. While the market failure of the newspaper business has been well documented, what is less known is how communities all over the country have responded to this crisis.
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