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Diversity, Media and Democratic Institutions in the Crosshairs
Interview with Ricardo Sandoval-Palos at San Francisco Public Press
(Still shot from video by Teo Valadez-Flynn/San Francisco Public Press)
PBS Public Editor Ricardo Sandoval-Palos joins Lila LaHood, Executive Director of the San Francisco Public Press on April 30, 2025, for a conversation about attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, and threats to democracy and the media.
Resources to Help You Identify Misinformation and Disinformation
A community conversation with border journalists on how mis/disinformation impacts our democracy. Sponsored by PBS El Paso, a service of Texas Tech University, in Oct. 2024
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Spotlight on Media
WEIU to End Affiliation with PBS Following Federal Cuts
Aug. 21, 2025—Eastern Illinois University, which holds the license to public television station WEIU, announced it will sever ties with PBS effective Oct. 1, when federal funding for public media comes to an end. The university said the decision was a result of the 2025 Rescissions Act, which brought the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcast and the loss of federal funding for public radio and television stations nationwide.
Small-town Newspapers Rescued from Closure as Buyers Swoop In
Aug. 20, 2025—After Midwestern newspaper chain News Media Corp. was forced to close 31 local newspapers earlier in the month for financial reasons, some of the shuttered papers were scooped up by buyers who have re-opened them, The Associated Press reported.
PBS Slashes Budget by 21% After Federal Funds Rescission
Aug. 15, 2025—PBS will reduce its budget by more than a fifth in the wake of Congress’s decision to claw back around $500 million in federal funding for all of public media. The decision was announced by PBS chief executive Paula Kerger, The New York Times reported.
News Deserts
Do you live in a ‘news desert’? The University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism looks at the growing gaps in news coverage left by the closures of local newspapers around the country. The report is available here.
MacArthur Foundation to Give
$500 million to Local News Effort
A coalition of philanthropies led by the MacArthur Foundation is offering $500 million as a lifeline to struggling local news operations, The Washington Post reported. It is the largest single philanthropic commitment to journalism to date.
American Newspapers Keep Closing and ‘News Deserts’ Keep Growing
(June 29, 2022) Washington Post media critic Margaret Sullivan writes that one-third of U.S. newspapers will that existed two decades ago will be out of business by 2025, according to research made public from Northwestern University’s Medill School.
Link to media release about the study and related multimedia downloads here.
Nonprofit Newsrooms a Promising New Model for Local News, Writes Margaret Sullivan
(Jan. 22, 2022) Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan writes that nonprofit newsrooms like the Texas Tribune, show promise as a prospective new model for struggling local news.
Family-run Iowa Newspaper Spotlighted in PBS Doc About Local Journalism
A documentary about the struggles of local journalism – think newspapers that cover the daily news of a town like Storm Lake, Iowa (population: 10,000) – airs the week of Nov. 15 on PBS. The Storm Lake Times, the subject of the film, is the second smallest news organization ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. It fills a vital need in this rural community. Poynter has a write-up on the project, as does The Houston Press.
Nonprofit Newsrooms Increasingly Filling Local News Void
The latest Institute for Nonprofit News survey, known as the INN Index, found that a growing portion of nonprofit newsrooms are dedicated to local public affairs, Neiman Labs reported.
When Texas Border Town Lost Its Only Paper, Local Start-up Filled Void
When the Southwestern border town of Del Rio, Texas, lost its only newspaper, a local man stepped in with an investment in print, turning his event-oriented website into a news outlet with a print edition. He’s helping fight back against the encroaching edges of a news desert.
...more on 'News Deserts' and what PBS can do about them (older coverage)
Against the growing phenomena of news deserts in the United States – areas where local news outlets have failed or have been gutted by the loss of ad revenue – PBS is being called upon to act. One suggested remedy is overhauling the way the Corporation for Public Broadcasting issues grants for public affairs programming, from a Washington, DC -based metric to spending decided by local news producers. ...
Why ‘Withering’ of Local News Landscape is Dangerous for Democracy
(Sept. 1, 2020) PBS NewsHour interviews media critic Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post about so-called news deserts and what they mean for U.S. democracy.