American Democracy's Future Demands A Free Press

By Benjy Hamm

When the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago, newspapers throughout the colonies shared the life-changing news with their readers.
With all of the enormous changes in this country and media since 1776, it’s noteworthy that more than 5,000 newspapers are still informing their communities about what their leaders are doing and how those actions affect them. Often, newspaper reporters are the only journalists who cover the actions of the local school board or city council or youth sports teams. 
The 2025 State of Local News report by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism revealed that there are more than 1,500counties in the United States served by only one news media outlet. 

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