Local journalism is fading and only we can stop it

PHOTO: The Davis Enterprise previously released print issues six days a week and boasted a sizable staff. Recently, many have left and the number of print issues has decreased to just two.

Editorial By Sean Campbell

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Local journalistic publications are an important part of society. They inform the public on local issues that are relevant to their readers and turn towns into communities by telling the stories that matter.

But according to the 2023 edition of “The State of Local News Report,” conducted by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, these important institutions are currently fading by a rate of nearly 130 a year in the United States, only 6,000 publications remaining. This is a worrying statistic.

Northwestern’s study found that, since 2005, almost one-third of all print newspapers in the US have closed. More than 6% (200/3143) of US counties are considered “news deserts,” with no publication within their borders. 

That means approximately 20 million US residents live without immediate access to local news—and this number is only growing. The same study stated that another 7% (243/3143) are at “high risk” of joining that group.

Luckily for us Davisites, that is not a reality for us… yet.

The Davis Enterprise has been a cornerstone of our community since 1896. As a politically active town, you would assume our faithful newspaper would be exempt from the turmoil facing local journalism. That assumption would be wrong.

When The Enterprise decreased from five editions-per week, to three, in 2017—already down from its original six— the service it was able to provide the community decreased significantly.

Having worked at The Enterprise since Dec. 15 of last year, I have seen the effects firsthand.

While my work as a high school sports beat writer may not be the most critical function of the paper, the examples still apply. Take the March 9 UC Davis women’s basketball game I covered.

Because that game happened on a Saturday, with the Sunday edition’s print deadline on Friday night, that story either had to be delayed until the Wednesday print, or thrown onto the website—which even I recognize doesn’t hit a lot of eyeballs.

Now imagine if that was a breaking news event, a bombing, a serial killer, a wildfire. Not only would the community not be served, but those important stories might never get told.

“In Davis, the potential for news content is massive, but the ability to get advertising— which provides the pages— isn’t there because we don’t have a lot of big retail stores,” said Bruce Gallaudet, who recently left his position as The Enterprise Sports Editor. “With fewer days we have less space to put stories on. Paired with the difficult deadline (for the Sunday edition), makes it even harder to provide timely coverage to the community.” 

That is a problem only getting worse. While in the process of writing this story, The Enterprise downsized yet again. May 10 will be the last time to get a Friday-edition Enterprise, so what’s next? A once-a-week paper doesn’t look as improbable as it once did, and despite promises of a website updated daily after the last two printing decreases, that just hasn’t been the case, outside of extreme scenarios.

Even in the print editions, if you look past the ever increasing percentage of ads, the papers are cluttered with “Specials to The Enterprise’’ and articles purchased from other publications. When a local paper doesn’t do its own reporting, what is its purpose?

This is not an attempt to barrage the staff which, keep in mind, I am a part of. I am consistently amazed by what a staff of just nine journalists is able to accomplish.

The staff is just stretched too thin to do any more. If you ever read a story in the sports section labeled, “by Enterprise staff,” it is always the same person behind the words, Gallaudet, who also happens to be my editor. I would advise against counting how many articles that would mean he writes a week (it’s a lot).

Part of the problem is middling salaries in the field. In the US, journalists have a median salary of $55,960, with 25% making less than $37,690, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median salary in the communications field in general (which includes journalists) is $66,240 and the median for those with bachelor’s degrees, which most jobs in journalism require, is $81,570. 

The lower salaries disincentivize people from working these critical jobs.

“I suppose if I had tried to move to a much larger publication it probably would have worked, but it is not all about the money, it is about the pride and the passion that comes with local journalism,” Gallaudet said.

And The Enterprise is one of the lucky publications. With many staff members, including Gallaudet, leaving the publication, it is unclear who will fill that void.

The financial problems of local publications have become a cycle. Decreasing readership has forced staffs to condense. Nearly two out of every three jobs in journalism have gone away since 2005, according to the same Northwestern study. 

Despite saving money on staff, publications have still been forced to outsource, downsize further or shut down completely, decreasing the quality of the product, which decreases readership, restarting the cycle. So what can we do to help?

I’ll be honest, before getting hired in December, I don’t think I had ever picked up an Enterprise, and I am guessing most of you reading this are in the same boat. What I hope you take away from this is that, more than ever, it is critical to consume and support our local media, whether through a subscription or our consumption of ads that pay for the reporting. The more we put into our local news, the better it will be able to serve us.

“The New York Times, for example, is not going to cover the high school volleyball game, or the community barbeque, or the city council elections. That is why community journalism is so important, to build our community,” Gallaudet said.