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 in 2005 by the end of next year — rather than in 2025, as originally predicted.

• Why it matters: Most communities that lose a local newspaper don't get a replacement, even online, Axios media trends expert Sara Fischer reports.

🧮 By the numbers: Roughly 6,000 newspapers are left in America, down from 8,891 in 2005, according to a report this week from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

• The report's authors argue that the local news gap "poses a far-reaching crisis for our democracy as it simultaneously struggles with political polarization, a lack of civic engagement and the proliferation of misinformation."
• Of the papers that survive, a majority (4,792) publish weekly, not daily.

What's happening: 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.

• Roughly half of all U.S. counties (1,562) are now only served with one remaining local news source — typically a weekly newspaper.
• The report's co-authors — Penelope Muse Abernathy, a visiting professor at Medill, and Sarah Stonbely, director of Medill's State of Local News Project — estimate that 228 of those counties, or roughly 7% of all U.S. counties, are at high risk of losing their last remaining local news outlet.

🧐 The intrigue: Hedge funds that bought up big chunks of the newspaper industry in recent decades have pulled back.

• Those companies bought hundreds of newspapers, seeking to squeeze extra profits from them at the margins as they declined.
• But several industry shifts in the past year, including a dramatic advertising slowdown, have forced the funds to dump papers quicker than they expected.

Ironically, newspapers are increasingly being sold back to family-owned newspaper chains, if they aren't shuttered. But those groups aren't nearly as profitable as the major family-owned newspaper firms of the 1990s.

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💡 Axios is investing in local news! We've added our 30th Axios Local edition — San Diego. All 30 cities have journalists on the ground, writing for their neighbors — the smart friend in your pocket. Check out our 30 cities.

President Biden's re-election campaign privately has been weighing whether to join TikTok to try to reach more young voters, Axios' Alex Thompson and Sophia Cai report.

• Why it matters: Most Republicans avoid TikTok over security concerns, since it's owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.

🔎 The intrigue: Biden's campaign is considering TikTok as a campaign tool at the same time his administration is trying to regulate it and has banned it on government devices.

• Biden is considering a jump onto the platform at a time when polls show he needs help with voters under 30.

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The market is romping, as equity-friendly news erupts on all sides.

• Why it matters: Stocks' runup marks a break with the last few months, when a slump had eroded most of the S&P 500's gains from early 2023, Axios Markets co-author Matt Phillips reports.

State of play: For November, the S&P is up 7.4%, the Nasdaq composite is up 9.8% and the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks is up 8.4%.

• Suddenly, the S&P is just 6% from touching an all-time high — traditional confirmation that a new bull market has been born.

🔬 Zoom in: Part of what's going on is a bit of optimism about improving economic ties between China and the U.S., and the end of another government shutdown threat.

• Long-term interest rates — hugely influential for stock values — are down sharply, as inflation eases and the Fed hikes appear finished.
• The economy continues to look quite strong.
• Earnings have been pretty good, with S&P 500 companies on track for the biggest jump in profits since the middle of last year.

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No single founder stacked up more losses for venture investors than Sam Bankman-Fried, according to PitchBook.

• Why it matters: SBF was the worst thing to ever happen to the digital asset industry. And he's maybe the worst thing to happen to investors, Axios Crypto co-authors Brady Dale and Crystal Kim write.

Flashback: History is littered with big losses for VCs. But PitchBook tells Axios that of those where a founder was still there for the fall, only Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos comes close to SBF's dead weight on portfolios.

• She wiped out $1.1 billion from her backers. SBF more than doubled that.

The twist: SBF's investment in AI startup Anthropic could ultimately be valuable enough to see FTX customers — out billions — made whole.

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The groundbreaking AI provisions in the Hollywood actors' union contract are a sign of the big changes coming across all kinds of jobs, thanks to the fast rise of AI technologies, Axios' Emily Peck reports.

• Why it matters: The AI issue was urgent in the entertainment industry. But all of us will likely face disruptions soon enough, economists said at a Brookings panel this week.

That could mean AI is on the agenda in more union contract negotiations — or that unions use the threat it poses to organize new workforces.

• For non-unionized workers, big changes are coming, too. "Even economists like myself see that a growing number of the things we do in our daily work are suddenly being automated," said Anton Korinek, a UVA economist and nonresident fellow at Brookings.

The bottom line: Hollywood actors, they're just like us — they just got there first.

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Twenty years ago today, Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as California's unlikely 38th governor.

• As the Terminator lit a cigar outdoors, under a yellow sun umbrella, he spoke with Axios' Margaret Talev about two terms in office, and his work now as chairman of a USC institute bearing his name.

Do you believe that Donald Trump or Joe Biden should be president again?

"I'm a big believer in new blood and a new generation. But if that's what it needs — if that's what this country needs, to have that kind of a showdown again and to finally find out, you know, that Biden is, you know, the legitimate president — then so be it."

Keep reading ... 🎧 Free audiobook: "The California Recall: Its First 20 Years," by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Mathews.

Most Walgreens stores will be closed on Thanksgiving for the first time in the company's history "to give time back to its workforce," the retailer said.

• "We have consistently heard from our team members — who are the face of Walgreens — that time off is a meaningful way for us to demonstrate we value them," Walgreens executive Tracey Brown said.

CVS and Rite Aid tell Axios' Kelly Tyko that stores will be open on Thanksgiving. Most locations will operate with reduced hours.

• Nearly all 700 Walgreens 24-hour locations — out of 9,000 stores — will remain open on the holiday.

🖼️ The big picture: A majority of the nation's largest retailers will keep their doors closed on Thanksgiving for the fourth year in a row, including Walmart, Target, Best Buy and department stores.

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Hyundai dealers next year will be the first to sell new vehicles on Amazon, launching the e-commerce giant into the lucrative but highly competitive car market, Nathan Bomey and Kelly Tyko write in Axios Closer.

• Customers will be able to search based on model, trim and color + choose payment and financing options.

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