September 21, 2026 \ Edition 55

Unfortunately, in many places, we can no longer tune in because local news across the nation is drying up. There are now only about eight local reporters per 100,000 people in the US, down from 40 per 100,000 in 2002, a drop of 80%.

We have long seen the impact of the decline in journalism on local politics and good governance. And now, according to new research from George Washington University, people living in areas with weaker local news coverage—sometimes called “news deserts”— are reporting higher levels of loneliness. The connection between local news decline and rising rates of loneliness is highest in rural communities.

The researchers looked at national survey data and found that people who rarely followed local news tended to report higher rates of loneliness than people who regularly kept up with what was happening locally. 

Danny Hayes, a professor of Political Science at GW and the lead researcher on the study, argues that “the fact that many people feel socially isolated or disconnected from their neighbors may not just be because they're scrolling through their phones all day. It may also be because they simply don't have access to or pay attention to news about what's happening in their local communities."

The study doesn’t establish cause and effect, and it is likely that a community losing a local newspaper is also simultaneously losing other community resources, but the study raises the significant possibility that the decline in local news means a decline in shared identity, information that brings people together, and a decay in the idea that we are all part of a larger community.

Read on!