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When the local paper folds, who's left to cover the news?

Checking in with the remaining reporters in Val Verde County, Texas, three years after its last daily newspaper folded.
Del Rio, Texas, lost its daily newspaper in 2020. Media researchers have labeled Val Verde County, in which Del Rio is located, a "news desert." But that doesn't mean it's a complete vacuum of information.
David Brancaccio/Marketplace

How voters in a Texas news desert get their information

Researchers have labeled 204 counties in America as "news deserts" — places that lack access to credible, reliable news sources. That includes Val Verde County, Texas.
Del Rio is county seat of Val Verde County, Texas — one of more than 200 counties in the U.S. classified as a "news desert."
David Brancaccio/Marketplace

Why fake robocalls are sounding more and more real — and what's being done about it

How can consumers protect themselves from malicious AI? We'll dig in.
During New Hampshire's primary, some voters received phone calls that imitated President Joe Biden's voice and discouraged people from heading to the polls.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

4 states just voted to close a loophole that allowed slavery as punishment for a crime

Nov 10, 2022
But that might not change the way prisons use inmates as labor.
There were still a few states that utilized slavery and indentured servitude as punishment for crimes.
Getty Images

Following Election Day, the economic story so far

Nov 9, 2022
Where the votes go could determine how investors — and their portfolios — could look at the U.S.
Voting booths are seen at Glass Elementary School's polling station in Eagle Pass, Texas, on November 8, 2022.
Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

The cost of getting citizen-led initiatives on the ballot has nearly doubled since 2020

To get a measure on the ballot, you need a campaign to collect signatures. That's gotten more expensive this election cycle.
The average cost for getting a citizen-led initiative on the ballot in states that allow for this has practically doubled from the 2020 election cycle to this year.
Brian Allison/Marketplace

Election deniers draw big money in state-level midterm races

Oct 20, 2022
Some of the candidates for these key roles are Republicans who have yet to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In swing states, "election deniers are raising a lot of money,” said OpenSecrets researcher Sarah Bryner.
Megan Varner/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Which states are doing something about "dark money"?

There's Arizona's citizen-led initiative in 2022. And voters in Alaska and North Dakota passed similar measures in previous years.
Arizona voters will decide on Proposition 211 this November. Voters in just a couple of other states have passed similar measures that came from citizen-led initiatives.
Alex Schroeder/Marketplace

What it takes to get a "dark money" initiative on the ballot

Arizona is one of 21 states where people can submit signatures and petition. But getting something on the ballot is no easy task.
From left, Becky Daggett, Kelly Gibbs and Diane McQueen are among the volunteers who  collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to get Proposition 211, a financial disclosure proposal, on this year's ballot.
David Brancaccio/Marketplace

In Arizona, a story of secret campaign spending and rising electric bills

The story of the 2014 Arizona Corporation Commission election campaign and the influence of so-called dark money.
Arizona Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy shows "Marketplace Morning Report" host David Brancaccio one of the binders, about 7 inches think, of ad-spending documents acquired by a subpoena.
Alex Schroeder/Marketplace