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The life and death of one local newspaper in Virginia

Keith Stickley had to pull the plug on the local newspaper he founded when he just couldn't make the economics work any longer.
"I had to create this printing company," said Keith Stickley, owner of Shenandoah Publications. "So we created the printing company to subsidize the newspaper. And so, we used printing margins to support a bad habit."
Alex Schroeder/Marketplace

How one Virginia county an hour from D.C. became a news desert

In King George County, Virginia, the closure of local newspapers and struggles of area outlets to cover the community have left residents with few sources of reliable news.
With newspapers like the King George News and the King George Journal no longer in publication, residents of King George County, Virginia, have slim options for reliable local news coverage.
Alex Schroeder/Marketplace

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

Small-town New Mexico newspaper rewrites its obituary

Dec 12, 2023
The Deming Headlight was a "ghost paper" under its corporate owner. Now independent, the paper has rebounded with community support.
Cebas/Getty Images

Digital startups see opportunity in local journalism

Jul 24, 2019
A handful of news media startups are finding new ways of generating revenue in straitened circumstances.
A tablet displaying a news website is shown on top of print versions of the newspaper in 2016.
Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Local newspapers are dead; long live local TV

Jul 1, 2013
The Tribune Co. has agreed to pay $2.7 billion for 19 local TV stations.
Pedestrians walk by the Tribune Tower, headquarters of the Tribune Company on June 7, 2012 in Chicago, Ill.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.