Supporting Local News, and Doctors Taking a Risk

This article is part of Times Opinion’s Giving Guide 2024. Read more in a note from Times Opinion’s editor, Kathleen Kingsbury.

ProPublica

The political devolution that led Americans to elect Donald Trump again has many causes, but one of them is the collapse of local news. By reporting on things that people can see and experience in their own communities, small and midsize papers once fostered a common culture and a shared sense of reality, while drawing attention to important stories missed by outlets lacking local knowledge.

In the absence of strong local journalism, conspiracy theories and demagogy have flourished. Politico found that in 2016, Trump did especially well in the communities with the lowest number of news subscribers, even when controlling for education and employment. In the most recent election, according to polling by Data for Progress, he dominated among those who said they don’t follow political news at all.

Trump will return to office at a moment of weakness and instability for the journalism business. With fewer resources, many media institutions will find it harder to stand up to him, especially if and when he targets their owners’ other business interests.

In this climate, the work of the nonprofit, donor-supported news organization ProPublica is more important than ever. In 2021 and 2022, ProPublica used an enormous tranche of leaked I.R.S. data to document how billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos avoid paying their fair share of income taxes. In 2023, it revealed how billionaire donors funded lavish perks for the Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. This year, it’s documented how abortion bans led to the deaths of women in Georgia and Texas.

Besides taking on major national stories, ProPublica is trying to fill some of the void left by the implosion of local news. Through its Local Reporting Network, it pays the salary of journalists who want to undertake expensive, time-consuming investigations that their home outlets can’t afford. In Idaho, for example, a probe into the state’s crumbling school buildings, done in concert with The Idaho Statesman, led the state’s Republican government to approve $2 billion to fix or replace them. Such work may not drive clicks, but by spurring tangible improvements in people’s lives, it may be the best way to start rebuilding trust in the news.