Local opinion: Amid expanding news deserts, seeds of local journalism’s renewal take root in Tucson

America is losing its hometown storytellers. Across the country, local newspapers are closing at a pace that would have been unthinkable a generation ago — more than two a week, according to the Medill State of Local News Report 2025. The number of Americans now living in so-called “news deserts” has climbed to a record 50 million people with little to no access to trustworthy local news and civic information. Sadly, this includes my hometown newspaper, the Cortland (N.Y.) Standard, one of the five oldest family-owned papers in the country, which closed in March after 157 years of continuous publication, another casualty of rising costs and low circulation.

The decline marks not just an economic shift but a cultural one — an erosion of the shared set of facts that communities need for civic decision-making and with it, the rise of rumor, spin and, well, fake news. When a community loses its chronicler, it loses some of its ability to hold power to account.

This crisis extends beyond ink and paper. Web traffic to major local newspapers has collapsed — down more than 45 percent in just four years — leaving outlets scrambling for a digital foothold while competing with social-media platforms that prioritize virality over veracity. In many rural counties, the only remaining reporter may be a public radio journalist, and looming federal cuts jeopardize even that.

In Tucson, we are fortunate to have a legacy media organization, this newspaper – the Arizona Daily Star – which, despite corporate budget cuts remains a leader in coverage of environmental issues, immigration, the university and more.  But the reality is that with a newsroom one-quarter of its size just 10 years ago, some civic beats necessarily remain uncovered.

Still, there are signs of renewal rooted in a growing recognition that local journalism is a public good, not just a business. The same Medill report also documents more than 300 local news startups launched nationally in the past five years, 80 percent of them digital-only. Rather than re-create legacy media, these outlets are building a new journalism that is community-led, values-driven and multilingual. 

In Tucson, the Local News Initiative of the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona has in the last two years provided $550,000 in grants for additional reporters, interns and support for these innovative initiatives, some led by former newspaper staffers who have decided to remain in Tucson to make a difference. 

One is Arizona Luminaria. Since its launch in 2022, the newsroom has become a statewide force, reaching over half a million readers annually. In 2025, the Arizona Press Club named it the Community News Outlet of the Year. Luminaria journalists uncovered utility fraud in mobile home parks that prompted the state attorney general to sue operators and seek refunds; revealed Amazon as the behind-the-scenes force behind a massive data center project, the so-called Project Blue, leading the Tucson City Council to unanimously reject the proposal, and the site produced the first statewide database of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. Their collaborations with Arizona Public Media produced documentaries on jail deaths and mobile home conditions, and their “solutions reporting” on education helped shape public understanding during Tucson Unified School District’s first successful budget override in 30 years.

Another is the Tucson Sentinel, a leading nonprofit watchdog newsroom that earned national recognition from the Association of Alternative News Publishers this year.  Editor and co-publisher Dylan Smith was also honored as a local civic champion for his leadership. The 15-year-old newsroom produced investigations into federal policy and funding shifts under the Trump administration affecting Arizona residents and universities while continuing to deepen its coverage of public-interest issues that affect Southern Arizona residents.

New to Tucson’s information ecosystem is Tucson Spotlight, which is building a bilingual newsroom that creates opportunities for new and emerging journalists. In its first year, the newsroom has published more than 1,000 stories, videos and newsletters; provided paid opportunities for more than 30 early-career reporters; published over 265 stories in Spanish; and partnered with community groups to connect residents with information on elections, civic resources and local issues.

An important addition to Spanish-language coverage is Somos Tucson, launched this year after the closure of the Daily Star’s Spanish-language weekly, La Estrella de Tucson.  Somos Tucson has become a lifeline for Spanish-speaking residents seeking essential information about elections, medical care, immigration resources and civic life.

At the same time, in Yuma, AZ, the public radio station, KAWC, launched a student newsroom that is training the next generation of bilingual journalists. Students interview legislators, produce podcasts and cover critical issues facing their communities — work that both strengthens civic life and expands opportunity for local young people. Their stories air on public radio, circulate online and contribute to a growing regional news ecosystem rooted in authenticity and access.

And the Patagonia Regional Times demonstrates that hyperlocal, nonpartisan news still has the power to bring people together. With expanded civic reporting, bilingual emergency alerts and standing-room-only candidate forums, the paper shows what happens when a community invests in its own information infrastructure.

An opportunity to engage with this innovative future is coming this Sunday, Nov. 23, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. The Loft Cinema and the Local News Initiative will host Reimagining Local News, a special screening and community conversation featuring former New York Times journalist and author Charles Blow. The new documentary series — funded by the MacArthur Foundation and Press Forward — highlights the emerging models to rebuild local news ecosystems across the country, including in Arizona. With general admission and a VIP reception option, the event reframes local news not as a story of decline but of possibility. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona for its continuing investments in local news and information.

Still, the challenges ahead are daunting. Most new startup outlets are concentrated in metro areas, leaving rural counties — already struggling with limited broadband access and shrinking civic institutions — farther behind. And as public radio faces funding threats, some regions risk losing their last remaining source of original reporting. Without community engagement and support, the map of America’s news deserts may double again before the decade is out.

Reliable, accurate local news and information is as essential to a community’s health as schools, libraries and roads. When communities invest in trusted local reporting, they invest in their own democratic resilience.

Communities can no longer leave local journalism to market forces alone. Instead, philanthropy, subscriptions, sponsorships and donations are needed to fill the revenue gaps left as shrinking advertising and circulation dollars starve legacy media. We hope that you can join us on Sunday to support quality local journalism.