Great book but I wanted more. I feel as though the book hints at the problems local journalists face but doesn’t address them or provide ideas for solutions. Great book, but I wanted more from it.

In a time of 24/7 news cycle and information overload, it's easy to overlook the loss of so many local newspapers. American Deadline offers four on-the-ground views of this devastating loss. Without local news, communities lack a shared understanding of their own communities. Publications have either closed or been acquired by dastardly investment firms that long ago decided that quality reporting is too expensive, leaving gutted newsrooms in their wake.

As someone who used to love reading my local newspaper daily, this book resonated deeply with me! I watched my local paper get thinner and thinner over the years until I eventually stopped subscribing. Here, the collective of four journalists posed one central question: "What will the death of local newspapers do to small communities?" Each author gives their unique perspective on this topic, all set against the backdrop of the 2020 pandemic and in four different regions of the country.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was fascinating to see the different situations from around the country and how the pandemic colored the canvas. It brought back events during COVID that I had forgotten. So much happened in 2020 with the pandemic, I honestly forgot a lot of it!!! The book also delved into the challenges local newspapers face in competing for advertising dollars with electronic advertising competitors, who can provide instant feedback on the effectiveness of ads. Additionally, the loss of newspapers has created another void in many areas of the country. Now, people are relying more on social media for their news and updates. However, it is hard to determine if the sources are reliable or not. As a result, this loss of local newspapers may have a lasting negative impact.

This book was a truly fascinating read and definitely gives you something to ponder about!! I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

AMERICAN DEADLINE by Greg Glassner, Charles Richardson, Sandra Sanchez, and Jason Togyer is a timely text about "Reporting from Four News-Starved Towns in the Trump Era." Here, four journalists have collaborated with Columbia Journalism School to document their thoughts throughout much of 2020. The initial idea was that the election would be a major story and that this text could perhaps provide insight about smaller towns and cities in a way that seemed lacking in 2016. Well, the main story of 2020 turned into COVID and this project evolved. It is interesting to see the reflections from such a diverse group of places, the first two of which have lost their local papers while the other two have shrunk: McKeesport, Pennsylvania, is near Pittsburgh having lost many manufacturing jobs; Bowling Green, Virginia, largely rural and estranged from the state's blue cities; McAllen, Texas, dealing with the border crisis; and Macon, Georgia, still dealing with "America's troubled reckoning with race." Glassner et al. provide some insights, but a more thorough summary of patterns (and possible next steps?) would have been a helpful addition.

The loss of local journalism is a dire situation. A few years ago, Art Cullen told an impressive story in Storm Lake while the University of North Carolina, in conjunction with The Knight Foundation, developed a comprehensive database on The Expanding News Desert which is itself referenced in AMERICAN DEADLINE. The News Literacy Project also attempts to fill a gap with some excellent Resources for Educators. If we do not have an educated citizenry who can agree on basic facts, then attempts at compromise and governance will become even more fraught.