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Tuesday, November 12, 2019

'Doonesbury' highlights importance of local news

Copyright 2019 by G.B. Trudeau. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Garry Trudeau's most recent "Doonesbury" cartoon is a pointed commentary on the value of local news. Over morning coffee, Mike expounds on why local news is important: "Did you know that cities that lose their local paper suffer a big drop in civic engagement?" he tells his wife Kim. 

That fact didn't come out of the thin air. Research shows that fewer people run for local office when there's a lack of local government coverage.

Other research shows that closure of local newspapers leads to more straight-ticket voting and political polarization. 

And partisan websites masquerading as local news are increasingly proliferating in battleground states, many attempting to fill the void left by shuttered local news. 

The bottom line? Support your local news publications. It matters for a lot more reasons than finding out about concerts.

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