Covering Our ‘News Deserts’
Virginia has 12 counties with no source for local news and 81 counties with just a single source, according to a report from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Some of those areas are close enough to another city or county that they have access to local television and newspaper coverage. Chesterfield County, for example, has no local paper, but residents rely on several Richmond outlets.
Others are finding information on their own, such as the woman in Richlands who filed more than 1,000 requests for public records and was able to compel her local government to address her concerns.
Digital publishers, including the Fredericksburg Free Press, are covering local events. There are also plenty of state and local blogs, including Bacon’s Rebellion.
Weekly papers also survive, including The Recorder in Monterey, printed continuously since 1877. The Virginia Flyover scours as many of these news sites as we can daily, making us your one-stop location for a cool drink of water even if you live in a “news desert.”
Like The Virginia Flyover? Share it with a friend!
|