Were it not for newspapers, Oregonians would not know about Secretary of State Shemia Fagan’s high-dollar moonlighting for a cannabis company. Fagan would still be in office, not having resigned in disgrace.

Were it not for a strongly worded editorial a year ago in Yamhill County’s News-Register, McMinnville Police might not have cracked down – finally – on illegal fireworks this year.

However, newspapers have an impact far beyond covering wrongdoing, societal problems and other “bad news.” As The Rural Blog said last month, “Local papers give communities ‘identity’ by reporting local events and celebrations that would otherwise go unrecorded.”

Now, the bad news. Jody Lawrence-Turner, executive director of the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism, told the House Rules Committee last week, “Oregon is in a news crisis and it’s about to get worse.

“Just last week I received a call from a publisher who was ready to give up his newspaper to another publication if they would just give him a job,” she said. “If this publication shuts down, there will be another large county left with just one news outlet to cover all of those cities.”

Newspapers face multiple challenges, including: Less advertising revenue from local and national merchants, whose own sales have suffered. Loss of classified advertising to online marketplaces. Fewer print subscribers. Social media companies’ stingy payments for the newspaper stories they pass along. Difficulty in hiring and retaining newspaper carriers, along with rising delivery costs.

The brutal statistics for Oregon:

• 68% of incorporated cities lack a local news source.

• Sherman and Wheeler counties are full-fledged news deserts without any local news outlet. Many other counties have only one.

• A third of independent newspapers are interested in converting to nonprofit status to survive.

The dismal situation nationally:

• The Brookings Institution reported in 2019 that “one in five U.S. local newspapers has disappeared since 2004,” leaving millions of Americans without a local news source.

• “The local news crisis has also precipitated a general disengagement from local democratic life. As Americans have shifted away from local news, turnout in state and local elections has fallen, and communities that have lost reporters have seen fewer candidates run for local office,” Brookings reported.

• “Newspaper newsroom employment fell 57% between 2008 and 2020, from roughly 71,000 jobs to about 31,000,” according to the Pew Research Center.

• Polling indicates a majority of consumers believe news should be “free” and resist paying for news online, despite what it costs the media to cover that news.

Why should anyone care?

“There’s no one holding local government accountable for their actions or budgets. Research shows Oregonians living in those cities are likely to pay more taxes, skip elections, spread disinformation,” Lawrence-Turner told the legislators.

“The lack of local news is also partially responsible for the state’s political divide. Rural voices are not reaching the statehouse, and communities are left in the dark about what state politics mean for them and their hometown.”

It’s not all gloom, of course. EO Media, which founded the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism in 2021, launched the Rogue Valley Times in Medford. Digital-only publications have sprouted around the state, including Salem Reporter, Oregon Capital Chronicle and Ashland News.

(Full disclosure: EO Media Group is a partner with Pamplin Media in Oregon Capital Insider.)

There also is good evidence that solid watchdog reporting saves taxpayers huge amounts of money by exposing wasteful and wrongful spending. Meanwhile, a study by Coda Ventures found that Americans see local newspapers and their websites as the most accurate sources of original news reporting.

Does government have a role?

The Founders certainly thought so. Newspapers were considered so crucial to the new republic that the Founders enshrined freedom of the press in the First Amendment. In the Constitution, they gave Congress the authority to establish post offices and post roads, recognizing that newspapers made up much of the mail. The subsequent U.S. Postal Service Act of 1792 included substantial subsidies for newspapers.

“We need you to figure out mechanisms that protect the public good of journalism in Oregon and support the rebuilding of local newsrooms around the state,” Heidi Wright, chief operating officer of EO Media Group, told the lawmakers.

The hearing was a continuation of discussions from this year’s legislative session about how to support Oregon newspapers.

Wright and representatives of the University of Oregon’s Agora Journalism Center discussed ways newspapers are working to remain financially viable.

However, Dear Readers, you also play a vital role. If you don’t already have one, buy a subscription to your local newspaper(s) or give one as a gift. It’s a good deal, costing far less than a daily cup of coffee. Please shop locally and patronize newspaper advertisers. If you run a business or nonprofit, invest in newspaper advertising. Consider contributing to the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism and/or to the funds set up by some individual newspapers.

And read, read, read the news in newspapers – whether in print or online – instead of relying on social media.

I wish you a Happy National Newspaper Week, which we celebrate this week in the U.S. and Canada.