By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News
A recent University of North Carolina study found that since 2004 1,800 newspapers had disappeared in America – 1,700 of the community weekly newspapers.
In the metropolitan areas of America, there is a relatively rich media culture with commercial television stations, public radio and television stations, internet web sites devoted to covering the both the urban region and communities within it, and daily newspapers.
However, many of these dailies have seen their newsrooms gutted with the savings on reporter salaries going to pay investors of their hedge fund owners.
In many rural communities, the only source of the news is the local newspaper. The information we provide reaches deeply into the fabric of what makes a community connected, successful, inclusive and forward looking. When it disappears, the community’s health is threatened
In Healthy communities