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Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy

Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy

by Margaret Sullivan

Columbia Global Reports ·2020 ·105 pages
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
50/99
Bottom of the Pile

10/99

Critics' Rating Index

Maybe Someday

49/99

Readers' Rating Index

Top of the Pile

91/99

Scholars' Citation Index

66/99

Volume of Reviews

41/99

Volume of Reader Ratings

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About This Book

Ghosting the News tells the most troubling media story of our time: how democracy suffers when local news dies. From 2004 to 2015, 1,800 print newspaper outlets closed in the US. One in five news organizations in Canada has closed since 2008. One in three Brazilians lives in news deserts. The absence of accountability journalism has created an atmosphere in which indicted politicians were elected, school superintendents were mismanaging districts, and police chiefs were getting mysterious payouts. This is not the much-discussed fake-news problem--it's the separate problem of a critical shortage of real news. America's premier media critic, Margaret Sullivan, charts the contours of the damage, and surveys a range of new efforts to keep local news alive--from non-profit digital sites to an effort modeled on the Peace Corps. No nostalgic paean to the roar of rumbling presses, Ghosting the News instead sounds a loud alarm, alerting citizens to a growing crisis in local news that has already done serious damage.


Reviews

"It is also the news that will never exist in the first place."

Megan Garber· The Atlantic Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Ultimately, Sullivan's pessimism about local journalism is as much a verdict on our culture as anything — and can you blame her?"

Sewell Chan· Los Angeles Times Read review ↗ Near the Top

"the author's goal isn't to lament the good old days of once-mighty businesses."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Near the Top

"[Sullivan] attempts to strike a hopeful note can sound unsatisfying because of how problematic all the solutions are."

Jennifer Szalai· The New York Times Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Sullivan does not advocate a particular approach."

Susan Benkelman· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Sullivan writes of 'journalism' sometimes of journalistic 'talent,' as though it's a natural resource, the same in quantity and quality at all times ..."

Barton Swaim· The Wall Street Journal Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

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