{"id":12571,"date":"2018-04-09T14:45:27","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T14:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/articles\/to-strengthen-democracy-read-your-newspaper\/"},"modified":"2018-04-09T14:45:27","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T14:45:27","slug":"to-strengthen-democracy-read-your-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/de\/articles\/to-strengthen-democracy-read-your-newspaper\/","title":{"rendered":"To Strengthen Democracy, Read Your Newspaper"},"template":"","class_list":["post-12571","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Newspapers are facing unprecedented challenges at a time when independent and aggressive journalism is more important than ever.","featured_image":null,"article_type":1103,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":8577}"],"related_issues":[134,136,2065],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Millions of Americans have been alarmed, and rightly so, by President Trump\u2019s relentless attacks on the news media and his dismissal of stories that are critical of him and his administration as \u201cfake news.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Trump\u2019s assault raises the specter of a government crackdown on independent reporting. It comes as news organizations, particularly newspapers, are in crisis. Newspaper circulation has declined for 28 consecutive years and advertising revenue fell from $49 billion in 2006 to $18 billion in 2016. Many publishers, particularly in small and medium-sized cities, have answered the revenue decline with dramatic cuts to newsroom staffs, accelerating the decline in readership as a lack of coverage gives remaining readers less reason to renew their subscriptions.<\/p>\r\n

A report over the weekend in\u00a0Politico<\/a>\u00a0suggests that the trends are working to Trump\u2019s benefit and likely played an important role in his election.<\/p>\r\n

Using subscription data assembled by the Alliance for Audited Media, an industry group that tracks newspaper circulation, Politico reports that Trump ran strongest in 2016 in counties where newspaper circulation has declined most.<\/p>\r\n

The major findings include:<\/p>\r\n\r\n