Dark Deserts: Dwindling newspapers associated with greater government secrecy

[cbabe]

https://www.jou.ufl.edu/2025/08/01/dark-deserts-dwindling-newspapers-associated-with-greater-government-secrecy/

Dark Deserts: Dwindling newspapers associated with greater government secrecy

August 1, 2025

A new study from the Brechner Freedom of Information (FOI) Project at the University of Florida finds that states with weaker newspaper environments are associated with greater government secrecy.

The study, published in the July 2025 News Research Journal, found that states with fewer newspapers per capita and financially weak press associations are more likely to have state government agencies that violate public record laws.

“Newspapers have traditionally pressured government to be more transparent and accountable to the people, so when those newspapers disappear, secrecy spreads,” said David Cuillier, a co-author of the study and director of the Brechner FOI Project,. “This study quantifies what we’ve always known intuitively: Newspapers are essential to a strong democracy.”

…

“Government transparency is never guaranteed,” Posner-Ferdman said. “Without local journalists utilizing FOI requests and the legal system to hold governments accountable, crucial information gets withheld from the public. Studies like these, highlight why journalism, and especially local journalism, remains one of the most crucial pillars of our democracy and should be protected at all costs.”

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[snowybirdie]

1. Another one biting the dust

My friend in Atlanta sent me a notice she received that the Atlanta Journal Constitution is going internet only soon.