Newspapers across the country are closing or being consolidated, leaving “news deserts” — communities with no local media coverage. Since 2004, more than 1,700 weekly newspapers and more than 60 dailies have closed across the nation, and many newspapers are only a shadow of what they once were as staffs have been slashed. How bad is it here and elsewhere? Does it matter? Are there promising alternatives for local news? The Columbia Basin Badger Club will explore these questions at its August 15th session. Speakers:
Joyce Terhaar is the former executive editor and senior vice president of The Sacramento Bee, now semi-retired and a contract editor at CALmatters, a nonprofit journalism startup in Sacramento and board member of the American Society of News Editors.