Blog 10 KEY POST: News Deserts

 How are News Deserts Really Effecting Us?

    When individuals think of the term "News Deserts" their mind immediately goes to parts of the world where technology isn't accessible, and where information does not spread as rapidly as it does in others. While they are right, to a certain extent, there is a lot more to the term than meets the eye. After conducting research on what a News Desert is, I learned the harsh reality that we may be closer to becoming a News Desert than we think. 

What is a News Desert?

    The first question we need to answer to become familiar with the topic is, "What exactly is a News Desert?". A News Desert is, "A community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at grass root levels."

To put this into simpler terms, metro (or larger) more credible news sources are pulling their papers from rural or urban communities who are now relying solely on their local news outlets and papers for the information needed in their communities. Now you may be thinking, "Well they still have their local news papers where they can get information, so why are they considered a News Desert?". We are starting to see more and more that news papers are becoming a lost form of communication. A lot of the local papers in these areas are diminishing in not only quantity, but quality, because of the lack of demand for them. 

This leads us into another important statement. "Many newspapers have become ghosts of their former selves, both in terms of the quantity and quality of their editorial content and the reach of their readership."

What does this mean for these areas?

    With the lack of credible information coming into these areas from larger news papers, individuals are not able to stay up to date on current news outlets if they do not have access to technology or cable. Pulling in the part of the definition that states, "...with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feed democracy at grass root levels." These individuals do not have a fighting chance at being apart of a democratic society. They are not able to help in making decisions for the country, or their town, because they are not getting the information that they need to make these decisions. 

    Not only will they not be able to make decisions to help the country and their society as a whole, but the larger news papers allow for individuals to see issues in society and relate them back to what is happening in their town or city. In a quote from Al Cross, Director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky has stated, "A good local newspaper shows you how you're related to people you may not know you're related to... I tell editors constantly that the readers of your county are not just residents of a county, but of a region a state and a nation."

https://www.cislm.org/what-exactly-is-a-news-desert/

Pros and Cons

    While we look at this issue and see the effects of advancing technology and how it is really affecting our society, we are able to balance the pros and cons of this issue. 

Pros: 

- With News Deserts rising, we will have to start thinking of innovative ways to spread news and information to these areas that are losing their local papers while also having metro papers pull away from reaching these areas. 

- There may also be the opportunity for partnerships between news outlets to help reach places that no longer have a local paper.

Cons:

- This is an issue that is going to continually spread until it becomes an issue all over. News Deserts have no specific race, gender, age, or area in mind. It is all about the environment and the rapid decline of news paper distributions. With the rise of the internet and other technology, all places will eventually become News Deserts. 

Other Sources with Information on News Deserts

    Along with the article written and information found by UNC Chapel Hill, I have also linked two other YouTube videos that explain how News Deserts are taking over. 

The first video is a CNN clip that shows how News Deserts were a hot topic during the election, because of the lack of information that individuals were receiving in some voting areas. It brings in first hand the issue of Democracy, and keeping a Democratic Country, when some individuals do not have access to credible information. 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2018/11/04/do-you-live-in-a-news-desert-area-rs.cnn

The second video is an interview Viktorya Vilk on how News Deserts are impacting communities, what they are, and how we will see them grow in the coming years. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mixU9jF4Bs&t=12s