Most people notice a local newspaper only when something goes wrong, such as a school board vote that surprises parents or a road project that runs over budget. By then, someone has to have been paying attention. In a growing number of American counties, no one is.
Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism released its 2026 State of Local News report in mid-October. The findings are sobering, especially for readers in rural and Midwestern communities.
A Record Jump in News Deserts
Medill defines a news desert as a county with no locally based source of professional news. This year’s report counts 238 such counties, an increase of 26 over the previous year. Researchers say it is the largest one-year rise since they began tracking the figure about five years ago.
The report notes that many of the newest deserts came from small rural newspapers closing in the Midwest. Illinois lost 30 newspapers between July 2025 and August 2026, according to coverage of the report. All were small or mid-sized outlets.
The previous year’s report had already found more than 1,500 counties with just one remaining local news source. Those counties are especially fragile. When a single paper or station closes, the whole county can lose its only regular coverage.
Why Smaller Papers Are Vulnerable
Many small-town papers have been run for decades by a family or a single longtime owner. When that owner retires or dies, there is often no succession plan and no buyer. Advertising revenue, once the backbone of these papers, has moved online and mostly gone to large platforms.
Digital audiences are also getting harder to hold. The report found that web traffic to 100 of the largest local newspapers has fallen by almost half since 2022. Researchers point to changing search tools and the growing use of artificial intelligence as possible factors. If large papers are struggling to hold readers, small ones have even less room.
What Is Lost When Coverage Disappears
It is easy to think of local news as a convenience. In practice, it is part of how a community runs itself.
A reporter at a county meeting is often the only person outside government who sits through the full agenda. Local coverage tells residents how their tax dollars are spent, who is running for the school board, and what a zoning change will mean for their street. It also covers high school sports, obituaries, and small business openings, which give a town a shared sense of itself.
Research cited in earlier Medill reports has linked news deserts to lower civic engagement. The reasoning is simple. People take part in decisions they know about. When information dries up, fewer people vote in local races, attend meetings, or hold officials to account.
The report’s authors also say that when news disappears in a county, it rarely comes back. A closed newsroom is hard to rebuild.
A Divide Between City and Country
The report does include some good news. Medill counted 75 new local news startups in the past year and nearly 300 over five years. Many are digital-only outlets built by journalists who want to serve their communities in new ways.
The catch is where they are. About 80 percent of those startups are in urban areas, and philanthropic support follows the same pattern. Rural communities, which are losing papers fastest, are gaining the fewest replacements. A new outlet in a big city does nothing for a county that no longer has a newsroom.
How Readers Can Fill the Gaps
Nothing replaces a reporter who knows your town. Still, readers have some options, and they matter more as local coverage thins.
Independent news sites can give useful context on stories that local outlets can no longer cover in depth. Publications such as Issue Red report on global events and current affairs, helping readers see how larger forces connect to what happens at home.
Readers can also do some things directly:
- Subscribe or donate. Paying for local news, even in a small way, helps keep newsrooms open.
- Share local reporting. When a good story appears, passing it along helps it reach more people.
- Attend public meetings. Residents who show up become informed sources themselves.
- Support public media. Public radio and television are the only local news source in some counties.
Community Issues Do Not Wait
Social change continues whether or not it is being reported. Housing costs, school funding, healthcare access, and the strain on rural economies all play out locally, often with little coverage. Following society news from a range of sources can help readers spot patterns, such as a problem in one county that also appears in another. Those patterns are harder to see when each town has to piece together its own story.
Looking Ahead
The Medill report is not a prediction that local journalism is finished. Its authors say outlets will need to try new distribution methods, business models, and revenue sources. Some states are experimenting with public support, including tax credits tied to newsroom jobs, and local philanthropy is playing a larger role in some places.
What the report makes plain is that the problem is getting worse and that the damage is uneven. The communities with the fewest resources are losing the most.
For readers in North Iowa and similar communities, the takeaway is practical. Local news depends on local support, and that support is easier to give while a newsroom still exists. A subscription, a donation, or a few minutes at a city council meeting can help keep a community informed.