Colorado's news deserts are growing at increasing rate, study shows
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Colorado's local newspapers are declining more rapidly than predicted, a new study finds, creating deserts void of trustworthy and nonpartisan news.
Why it matters: Multiple studies show the closure of newspapers leads to political polarization, lower voter turnout, fewer political candidates and economic costs.
By the numbers: Colorado has lost 32 local newspapers since 2005 — 12 in the last five years, according to a report from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. That's a 22% decline.
- Three of the state's 64 counties — Conejos and Costilla on the southern border and Cheyenne on the eastern border — have no local newspaper, while 32 others have just one.
The intrigue: A separate report from the Colorado Media Project issued in September casts an even more dire picture, finding 19 newspapers in Colorado shuttered in the last five years.
The big picture: The decline of local newspapers accelerated so rapidly in 2023 that analysts now believe the U.S. will have lost one-third of the newspapers it had as of 2005 by the end of next year — rather than in 2025, as originally initially forecasted, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.
- Over the past two years, newspapers continued to vanish at an average rate of more than two per week, leaving 204 U.S. counties, or 6.4%, without any local news outlet.
What to watch: At least 44 local newspaper owners are nearing retirement age or looking to exit the business, a 2019 Colorado Media Project report found.
What he's saying: Silver World publisher and editor Grant Houston is the latest looking to step away from his weekly in Lake City, Colorado College instructor Corey Hutchins writes.
- "I don't even have a price in mind," Houston said. "Most important is that it continues."