Telluride Magazine: In the time between my writing this and you reading it, many small town newspapers will perish. Many were already on life support due, in part, to the demise of a business model that relied heavily on local advertising. Then the pandemic shut down whatever remaining advertisers they might have had. That means that just as one of the most influential stories in the lifetime of most readers came along, there was no trustworthy voice for delivering vital facts and information at the local level.

According to research by the University of North Carolina, the U.S. has lost more than 2,000 papers since 2004. More than 500 of those were in rural communities. Because of the isolation of these towns, there is nothing else to fill the void. At least, nothing helpful or true.

Welcome to the news deserts of America.

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