American Reality Today
Back to Op-Eds

Op-Ed

Local journalism is civic infrastructure

Site Administrator · June 1, 2026

When a county loses its reporter, school board meetings go unwatched and contracts go unscrutinized. Corruption thrives in coverage deserts.

Philanthropy, cooperatives, and public funding experiments can stabilize newsrooms without compromising independence—if transparency rules are clear.

Democracy needs witnesses. Fund them.

Was this helpful?

Comments

Share a thoughtful response. Comments are reviewed before they appear publicly.

No comments yet. Be the first to add one.

Log in or create an account to leave a comment. Email verification is required.

Report this article

Flag content that may raise a legal concern or violate our terms of service.

Log in or register (with a verified email) to report this article.

Related articles

Seeing Is an Act of Faith

Aug 16, 2026 · Eric Peterson

Seeing Is an Act of Faith 8-2-26 (644)We often say that seeing is believing, but the reverse might be closer to the truth. Seeing depends on our faith that the light reaching our eyes corresponds to something real and...

Read article

Rural hospitals are closing. So are rural futures.

AI

Jun 13, 2026 · Site Administrator

When a county loses its emergency room, it loses more than beds. It loses obstetrics, trauma response, and the confidence of young families deciding whether to stay. Policy debates treat rural healthcare as a budget line...

Read article