Utah lost three newspapers in 14 months
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Newspapers owned by small, independent groups — often families or local businesses — are shuttering at an alarming pace compared to those owned by large investment companies, according to a new report from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism.
Why it matters: Independent newspapers are more likely to represent rural communities that are at greater risk of becoming "news deserts," or areas with extremely limited or zero access to local news sources.
Zoom in: Since July 2024, Utah has lost two independent newspapers — the Wasatch Wave and Summit County News — and the privately-owned Morgan County News.
- All three served communities that aren't part of the Wasatch Front.
The big picture: The erosion of small, independent newspapers means that the majority of remaining papers in the U.S. will be even more heavily concentrated among larger hedge funds and private-equity-backed groups that tend to be less invested in local communities.
- "The scary thing about that is that those are the owners that have been doing it, many cases, for decades," said Tim Franklin, a senior associate dean at Medill.
- "They're the most passionate about their publications, and even those folks are beginning to throw up their hands."
By the numbers: Half of the 136 newspaper closures in America over the past 14 months have been from independent, for-profit newspaper chains that own five or fewer for-profit papers, according to Medill's 2025 State of Local News report.
- By comparison, only eight newspapers owned by investment firms shuttered in the same time period.
- Private newspaper companies, or groups that aren't owned by large investment groups but are still for-profit entities, also closed at an alarming rate.