The Rich/Poor Divide Extends to Local News, a New Report Suggests

Add “access to quality local news” to the list of advantages that wealthy communities have over poor ones: A new Rutgers analysis of news sources in three New Jersey towns suggests that richer towns have more local news sources, creating more original content and posting more of it to social media, than do poorer communities.   “If journalism and access to information are pillars of self-government, then these findings suggest those tools of democracy are not being distributed evenly, and that should be cause for concern,” said Philip M. Napoli, professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers and the report’s lead author.