Post #8: News Deserts

 What Are News Deserts?

News Deserts are something that has been slowly spreading through the United States with them taking hold in countless towns and cities without any of us noticing them. They have countless people to go without reliable information about their country, their state, their county, and at times their town.

So what are they? New Deserts are geographical areas or communities that suffer from having very few or no news outlets that are providing them with outside information. This means that potentially thousands of people located in the areas normally only have one way they are capable of getting information about topics outside their local area with hundreds having no information any sort of information at all.

What Causes New Deserts?

New Deserts are most commonly located in rural regions. These rural locations on their own can be one of the foundations for New Deserts as they are often heavily reliant on physical media such as newspapers or newsletters. This is because the rural location often has issues in getting reliable access to the internet as many internet providers don't see these areas as profitable enough to lay down cables. This immediately makes these areas News Deserts as they are now only subject to their local physical media but also makes them at higher risk of losing all of their sources of media.

The reason these are are at risk of losing all forms of media is because another main factor in creating News Deserts is economic distress in a region. This is because when a region comes under economic destress they attempt to find ways to cut back on costs and save money. One of the most common budgets that occur during these times is the slashing of available newspaper budgets due to the rise of online media.

Finally, the last cause is a general growing disinterest in traditional physical media due to the growth of online media platforms. This has caused many regions that are normally not at risk of becoming a news desert to become one as they no longer see the need for physical media and as such cut the funding of their own newspapers in order to save more money. This has allowed New Deserts to spread into areas that they would normally be unable to reach such as within major cities and wealthy communities.

Effects of News Deserts?

The primary and most pressing effect of News Deserts is that they have caused countless individuals to only be capable of forming their thoughts and ideas through one source of information. This goes hand in hand with thousands of Americans not even being able to receive information until days or even weeks have passed causing them to not understand potentially life-changing news from the state or the nation.

One of the most impactful changes for those not currently within the regions afflicted by News Deserts is that they are at risk of becoming one under the current circumstances unless an active effort to bring back physical media is undertaken.