[Salon] Decline Of Newspapers Threatens The Future Of Representative Government - Guest post by Allan Brownfeld

DECLINE OF NEWSPAPERS THREATENS THE FUTURE OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT BY ALLAN C.BROWNFELD ————————————————————————————————————————— Across our country, newspapers are closing. A declining share of Americans are closely following the news, according to Pew Research Center surveys. Audiences are shrinking for older types of news media—-such as local t.v. stations, , most newspapers and public radio—-even as they grow for newer platforms like podcasts, and on-line, unedited material. Daily newspaper circulation nationwide, counting digital subscriptions and print circulation, fell to just under 21 million in 2022, according to projections using data from the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM). Weekday circulation is down 8% from the previous year and 32% from five years prior. There are nearly 6,000 newspapers that publish in the U.S. and, on average, two shut down every week. Current projections show that in the past year the U.S. will have lost one-third of the newspapers it had in 2005. A shift to consuming news on line, often unedited for accuracy by anyone, intensified by smart phones, has disrupted traditional news outlets like print media. In a recent survey, the Pew Research Center found that 9 per cent of American adults said they turn to print publications often to get their news compared to 56% who say they get their news digitally. This survey found that nearly one-third of all young people get most of their news on-line from Tik Tok. It is also clear that large numbers of Americans of all ages confine their news consumption to publications, websites, podcasts and t.v.networks that share their political perspective. Thus, liberals tend to rely upon liberal sources of information and conservatives on conservative ones. It is a far different era from the one we had in the past when the vast majority of Americans received the same, largely accurate and unbiased, information from the three established networks, ABC,CBS, and NBC. Members of Generation Z, it was found, get most of their news from four platforms: Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. The Local News Initiative, a project from Northwestern University that tracks local news outlets across the country, has found that over 1,500 counties across the country have only a single news outlet and more than 200 counties have none at all. This creates “information deserts” that deprive communities of vital information. Typically, when a newspaper closes there are no other news outlets, either in print or on line. There has been a net loss of over 3,200 papers since 2005. Between 2004 and 2024, the number of non-daily papers fell from over 7.4 thousand to less than 4.6 thousand. When I worked as a staff member in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, one of my responsibilities was meeting on a regular basis with the Washington correspondents of newspapers from the district the Senator or Congressman represented. Today, for most members of Congress, that would no longer be necessary—-because fewer and fewer newspapers around the country any longer have Washington correspondents. In 21 states, local newspapers have no reporters on Capitol Hill. Another 14 states only have a single correspondent in Washington. Members of Congress acted differently when reporters from their districts were paying close attention to what they were doing. It is ironic that just as traditional media are declining in influence, some politicians are repeatedly denouncing them and threatening them. This is a familiar pattern in U.S. history. In 1798, the Federalist Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Act. It was signed into law by President John Adams. The Sedition Act prohibited public opposition to the government. Fines and imprisonment could be used against those who “write, print, offer or publish, any false, scandalous and malicious writing against the government.” Over 20 Democratic-Republican newspaper editors were imprisoned. Rep. Matthew Lyon of Vermont wrote a letter that criticized President Adams’ “unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation and self avarice.” This caused him to be imprisoned. While Federalists sent Lyon to prison for his opinions, his constituents re-elected him to Congress, even from his jail cell. The Sedition Act clearly violated individual protections under the First Amendment. However, the practice of judicial review, whereby the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of laws, was not yet fully developed. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson directed their opposition to the new law to state legislatures. The Virginia and Kentucky legislatures passed resolutions declaring the federal laws invalid within their states. There was a fear of imminent armed conflict in the country. Criticism of the Sedition law was widespread and the Federalists were defeated in the election of 1800, after which the acts were repealed or allowed to expire. In 1787, Jefferson declared, “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether Washington should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” One wonders what Jefferson would make of our current society in which newspapers across the country are closing and young people learn what they know about the world from sources such as Tik Tok. A recent poll found that the majority of Americans were unable to name the three branches of our government. Many of our schools are no longer teaching civics and American history. Still, a recent Pew survey found that 73% of Americans say that freedom of the press is extremely or very important to the well-being,of society. Yet, fewer and fewer Americans are getting their information from legitimate, well-edited and reliable news sources. What this means for the future of our society is something Americans would do well to carefully consider.