The loss of local #journalists and reporting in towns and states is a #democracy crisis, as this article reminds us. Imagine if this many teachers, librarians, or other knowledge workers, were lost to communities.

https://wapo.st/3hUuyoP (gift link)

But it’s #LocalNews and #journalism, not one media form, that need our attention. Solutions might include some newspapers, but go far beyond that old industry model. How can #localnews thrive?That’s the core question.

@dankennedy_nu @jeff @BostonAbrams Good piece -- and I think it actually reinforces the point. (I don't give the Times the pass you do, they have 1,200 journalists and cover mayoral politics with glee, they prioritize prediction and other parts of politics)

@dankennedy_nu @jeff @BostonAbrams Well, hmm. My point is that the loss of local reporting has a (demonstrated) negative impact on people's ability to get important information. In this case, a weekly outlet did some vetting - but other local media failed to do that or to pick up on it. I don't think it contradicts anything about the crisis in local news. And in fact supports my point that good local journalism and local newspapers aren't the same thing.

@EdSanders @dankennedy_nu @jeff @BostonAbrams Think we can stay civil (this isn't twitter, thank goodness).

My original post wasn't about #Santos. But looking at this in terms of the job of #journalists and #LocalNews (different from job of political parties), it seems most voters were in the dark about the candidate's background before they cast ballots. And the response to the post-election reporting shows that the information has had impact, and likely will have more, despite being late.

@dankennedy_nu @jeff @EdSanders @BostonAbrams

Getting back to our discussion, this @washingtonpost story on the small paper that reported on #Santos pre-election touches on connections to the loss of local news capacity:

https://wapo.st/3vsHIg2

Beyond numbers, it’s about using resources on reporting that might not offer immediate payoff (i.e. candidate vetting). I’ve seen outlets that used to claim elections as a franchise shift to barely covering them.