BEACONS IN THE DARKNESS
DAVE HOEKSTRA
© 2022 Agate Publishing
$18.99
287 pages

AMERICAN DEADLINE: REPORTING FROM FOUR NEWS-STARVED TOWNS IN THE TRUMP ERA
GREG GLASSNER, CHARLES RICHARDSON, SANDRA SANCHEZ, AND JASON TOGYER
© 2023 Columbia University Press
$30.00
301 pages

It's no secret that newspapers struggle today, as they have since long before the pandemic. Years ago, large corporations gobbled up small newspapers and gutted their staffs, and newsrooms were decimated by consolidation and buyouts. In Beacons in the Darkness, author Dave Hoekstra says that family-owned papers and independent publishers were sent "racing to the exit sign," and as advertising fell and page-counts were slashed, some areas were left entirely without a newspaper.

This, Hoekstra indicates, is a problem for small towns.

"The quality of the life of the community," he says, "can be directly affected by the level of involvement by the newspaper." Locally owned newspapers "embed themselves into community." They hold the history of people and the things they care about, they serve as watchdogs for local government, dig for stories that need daylight, and employ your neighbors.

To do this, they need flexibility. Today's newspapers may go all-digital, or become print-digital hybrids. They may set up pop-up newsstands. Some assume nonprofit status; others reach for community involvement, and then keep doing what they do best: serve as the voice of the towns they're in, and help to keep people informed on issues they need to know.

This is particularly important, according to Greg Glassner, Charles Richardson, Sandra Sanchez, and Jason Togyer, in this time of political partisanship and division. In their new book, American Deadline, they tell the tales of four towns that lost their newspapers during the pandemic, and how this vanishing is a problem for everyone.

Without a local newspaper — the kind that reports not just on big stories but also about hometown people and events — there's often a void left that diminishes important conversations about essential issues. It's easy, with no local newspaper, for people to become unaware of what they need to know.

That's especially dangerous when it comes to national news. Community newspapers thrive on reliability and reader trust. Without one in town, too many people may come to rely on unreliable sources for their news.

The four towns that serve as settings for this book are in the south and east; two lost their local newspapers entirely and two had vastly diminished staffs. This book, the stories in which made up an "experiment" in reporting, show how cities and towns suffered when several large news events happened and there was no one to record them.

Like any good feature story, these books are worth reading, because they serve to remind readers why their parents and grandparents supported local news. If you care about your community, it's time you do, too.