The September 7th issue of THE WEEK had an article about the death of local news and the serious impact that has on the fight against corruption.
http://theweek.com/articles/793309/death-local-news
It asks the question, "Do we still meed local news?" It answers, "Only if things like schools, taxes, infrastructure, and government accountability matter to you."
In the absence of local news people are relegated to getting their information on Google, Facebook, or Twitter. Everyone knows how accurate those sources are and how insulated they are from fake stories.
Even worse people trust their tribal bards without challenge or fact checking. That only increases polarization of opinions and offers credibility to the loudest voices, the fringes. People stop listening to and learning from others who may have contrary opinions.
The problem has only been exacerbating when the most vocal are the fringe elements and confabulators that populate high levels of authority that the average person used to be able to trust.
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