This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. Since 2005, nearly 3,000 local newspapers have closed across the United States, resulting in the loss of over 43,000 journalism jobs. These numbers paint a grim picture of what communities could face without their trusted, local news outlets: a lack of information (or worse, social media gossip), less government accountability, and a loss of community identity. Local newspapers have served as the cornerstone of towns and cities for decades—sometimes for over a century—documenting everything from major community events to personal milestones like births, obituaries, and accomplishments, and feature stories about your neighbors—the real people you know, not influencers or strangers miles away.

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