• by Ray Schultz , October 23, 2024

News deserts are growing in the U.S., according to the State of Local News, a study by the Northwestern Medill Local News Initiative.  

There are now 208 counties across the country without any news source, up from 204 last year, and 1,563 counties with only one source.

The result: almost 55 million people in the United States have limited or no access to local news.

There are now 4,558 non-daily and 1,033 daily newspapers in the U.S. -- down from 7,419 non-dailies and 1,472 dailies in 2005.  

Circulation is also declining. In the past year, 500 of the largest dailies and weeklies have lost roughly 2 million print and digital readers, the Alliance for Audited Media reports. The total loss is more than 75 million since 2005.  

Total newspaper employment has suffered, going from 365,460 in 2005 to 98,470 in 2023. 

Transactions increased, with 258 papers being traded this year, up from 180 in 2023. Total transactions hit 75, versus 55 in 2023, and there were 59 unique buyers compared to 41 last year, suggesting an increase in small buyers.