News Deserts Get Bigger                      #401

Commentary 

In January of 2024 I wrote a blog about the growth of "news deserts" across the country and how local newspapers were dying out, leaving local news basically uncovered in many places.

Radio news took a major hit when CBS Radio news ceased to exist on May 22nd. That prompted some local radio stations to eliminate newscasts completely.  

And the cuts in funding for public broadcasting have hit hard at the 640 NPR stations across the country, which in many cases were a community's ONLY source of local news. Many of them have cut back on programming, including news.    

Now the drought on local news is expanding to small and medium market TV stations. Large TV groups like Nexstar and Sinclair have been gobbling up TV stations over the last few years, leading to mergers of competing newsrooms, elimination of news altogether or dramatic cuts in newsroom staff across the board.  In some smaller markets that has led to no local news at all, or scaled back coverage. Television news is now following that downward path that lead to the elimination of local newspapers and local radio news. 

Local PBS TV stations might have been able to cover some of the gap, but budget cuts pushed by President Trump have lead to a 15% cutback in jobs  and the elimination of weekend news on PBS local stations.

Many news deserts are now bigger. There's NO ONE covering local government, corporations or school boards. 

Social media and digital media have replaced the old reliable newspapers, and in many places radio and TV news as well. When it comes to city hall,  county government or school boards, the only place to go is to online content, which is often amateurish, biased or filled with misinformation.  

The public is uninformed or worse, misinformed, about what is going on not just in Ukraine or Iran, but also in their own backyard. 

And finally, and perhaps more ominous, are the big TV mergers which puts the editorial content of the local newscasts that are left in the hands of a few large companies like Sinclair and Nextstar. They can then control the message everywhere.

Gen Z and Gen Alfa, who never relied on TV as a source for news, may not miss it. But they may never get to know what real journalists covering real news can mean for their community or their nation. In the end, we all lose.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pbs-weekend-newscasts-shut-due-funding-cuts-replaced-single-topic-prog-rcna253759

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/us/politics/public-broadcasting-cuts.html

https://cordcuttersnews.com/the-slow-death-of-local-news-weather-on-abc-cbs-fox-nbc-has-started/

News You May Have Missed!

Voter Intimidation? 

Should the federal government be allowed access to state produced voter rolls prior to November's election? Judges have backed opposition to that from the states which have rejected President Trump's Executive Order to turn over their lists.  

The states argue that the U.S. Constitution specifically leaves voting rules up to the individual states (Article 1 Sec 4. Clause 1) with Congress and not the President having the power to make changes. The new Attorney General, Todd Blanche, says they could take the issue to the Supreme Court to investigate "deficiencies" or "anomalies" telling NBC's Meet The Press "the idea that the Department is trying to investigate issues around elections to make sure they're fair and make sure they're conducted the right way is not something that we should be running away from. That's something we should be running toward." There are 22 separate cases which may make it to the Supreme Court. 

 The administration says it is targeting voter fraud and noncitizens who may be registered to vote. 

However, there has never been any evidence of  widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections in the last 100 years.

State voter rolls include your name, address, date of birth, driver's license number, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/attorney-general-todd-blanche-says-the-doj-may-take-states-voter-roll-fight-to-supreme-court/ar-AA2aevC2?ocid=BingNewsBrowse

Robots To Control The Border? 

Here's a scary thought. Humanoid-looking robots could soon be patrolling the rough terrain of our southern border with Mexico. A company called

(Phantom)

Foundation has already demonstrated the technology to the Department of Homeland Security. The company founder has told Fox News that they have been talking with several other agencies, including the Army, Air Force and Navy about using the robots and that negotiations have already begun, but DHS says there are no agreements.  

The robot is called Phantom, and it would be used to conduct surveillance on terrain that would be difficult for people, vehicles, fixed cameras or even aerial drones.  

The robot can tell the difference between people and other objects and functions autonomously before alerting human patrols of a border crossing. The company says Phantom could operate 24/7 and even in tunnels that crop up along the border.  

But here's the most frightening part: the company says if necessary, the robots can be armed. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/humanoid-robots-could-patrol-southern-border-ceo-pitches-as-futuristic-technology-moves-closer-to-reality/ar-AA2aePC5?ocid=BingNewsBrowse

Dumbest Quote Of The Week!

This week's dumbest quote comes from the Pentagon X account responding to the ongoing trouble aboard the USS Lincoln, an Aircraft carrier where sailors have complained about their extended deployment, poor food and bad plumbing. 

The Pentagon is denying the conditions are bad, even after pictures turned up on the internet of poor food, and the families of the sailors talked about what they are hearing from the crew. 

The Pentagon post said: 

 "Pamela Brown from CNN was actually embedded aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln just a month ago—and they even ate ice cream while visiting the ship!"

Well, that may have been true a month ago. And you know the media got VIP treatment. And a lot of things can change in a month.

The post might as well have well said 

"Let them eat cake."

(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)

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