Trust in local media strong, despite loss of Oregon newspapers

Oregon is losing local media outlets quickly, echoing a national trend.

This year alone, 130 newspapers nationwide shut down, according to a new report from Northwestern University.

Bob Singer, president of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters, said readership is low for local papers, which leads to a loss of advertising revenue. He pointed out local radio stations in Oregon have stepped in to fill in the gaps left by print media, and those stations are doing OK.

“It’s not the robust industry it was a decade or so ago because things have changed,” Singer acknowledged. “But I think that they’re doing a very good job, especially the family-owned radio stations around the state.”

Amid an increasing climate of misinformation and media distrust among some Americans, recent data show the news outlets they say they trust the most are all local: newspapers, radio stations and television stations.

Robert Asen, professor of rhetoric, politics and culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in this polarized climate, where people choose to get their news matters.

“It seems less and less that we’re willing, or able, to see things that we may share in common,” Asen observed. “That’s exacerbated by a media ecosystem where we’re not even getting the same information - where we’re not even sharing the same basic set of facts.”

In the survey, 74% of Americans believe not having a local newspaper would seriously affect their community. Yet more than half of all counties in the U.S. have just one local news outlet or none at all. In Oregon, nine rural counties have just one local news outlet, while five rural counties have none at all.

Although the outlook for local papers is grim, Singer is hopeful about local radio holding on. He noted AM radio especially serves a vital role in disaster preparedness and communication for when electricity and cell towers are not working.

“Where are people going for their information? They go to their car and they turn the radio on,” Singer concluded.

newsservice.org