Blog #11: EOTO Presentation Reaction

 During class presentations the topic of news deserts stood out to me among the rest. This term was something I had never heard of but found it interesting to learn about. 

A news desert is a community that can be either rural or urban. In these particular communities there is limited access to credible and comprehensive news. This issue can be considered to be both a supply and demand issue. During the presentation it was talked about how their is a lack of supply due to the fact that these metro papers limit their coverage in the news deserts. The issue with demand was explained by sharing how readers do not typically opt to subscribe to these local newspapers. 

A map was presented to us to show the number of news deserts around our country. This map was what made the presentation stick out to me. News is something many of us have access to in multiple different forms. People are able to read a newspaper, look online, listen to the radio or watch the TV to find news relevant to their community. For the people in these news deserts they have limited access to news and often times don't even have a local newspaper. 

Reports have shown that in the United States there are 200 counties who don't have a local newspaper.In a case where these news desert counties do have some form of a local newspaper it tends to only be published and updated once a week. 

These news deserts have began to grow and struggle more due to the struggle of the newspaper industry. In the past fifteen  years the industry has struggled immensely. Most people do not understand what is at stake if newspapers completely die out. These news deserts will loose their main form and sometimes only form of local news. 

A local news paper is a way for the community to stay in the know about their surroundings. Through the stories in a local newspaper they are able to provide answers and suggestions for problems the communities facing. 

News deserts are becoming more common every year as technology advances. The lack of local news and local newspapers effects citizens all over the United Sates. With the loss of local news and more of a focus on technological national news there is the risk of more of a rise in news deserts.