The list of troubles facing local news operations seems to go on forever.
The rise in big box stores and ecommerce has made local newspaper retail advertising almost superfluous.
The long-term decline in the population of small cities like Cairo, Illinois has narrowed the subscriber base of many local papers, forcing closures and consolidations.
And the fall in the price of newspaper advertising — an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by my organization, Progressive Policy Institute, shows it’s down 15 percent since 2019 — has undercut the traditional business model of local news even further.
