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While pondering the future of the newspaper—and of our democracy—we must recognize that a free press isn’t free, nor is its survival certain.

As newsroom cutbacks accelerate, as state, national, and foreign bureaus close down, and as industry consolidation continues apace, we must ask ourselves where we will get the thorough reporting we need to make informed choices and present well-considered viewpoints—two hallmarks of a vibrant democracy. Since the days of Nellie Bly, Americans have depended on journalists to hunt down the facts and either present them or analyze them. As our world becomes even smaller and the issues confronting us even more perilous, a press devoted to serving the diverse interests of the common good is crucial to the health of our democracy.

However, a host of current developments in print journalism undermine the newspaper’s role as bulwark of democracy. Many cities now have just one newspaper, which tends to cover only issues and events of interest to middle- and upper-middle-class readers. The experiences and events affecting poorer and working-class citizens get short shrift, and with the rise of newspaper chains, the chances that mainstream daily papers will publish a diversity of opinions, ideas, and information will likely decrease. Moreover, chain ownership—often concerned first about the bottom line and saving money—has tended to discourage watchdog journalism, the most expensive type of reporting. This means that we, as citizens, must remain ever mindful of our news sources and consider the motivations and interests concealed behind the news we’re receiving and ask ourselves why we’re receiving it.

As news increasingly reaches us through a wide range of digital distribution channels, print journalism is losing readers and advertisers and may eventually cease to exist. Editor John Carroll described the situation in no uncertain terms. Having presided over thirteen Pulitzer Prize–winning reports at the Los Angeles Times as editor from 2000 to 2005, Carroll left the paper to protest deep corporate cuts to the newsroom. He lamented the apparently imminent demise of newspapers, proclaiming: “Newspapers are doing the reporting in this country. Google and Yahoo! and those people aren’t putting reporters on the street in any numbers at all. Blogs can’t afford it. Network television is taking reporters off the street. . . . Newspapers are the last ones standing, and newspapers are threatened. . . . Reporting is absolutely an essential thing for democratic self-government. Who’s going to do it? Who’s going to pay for the news? If newspapers fall by the wayside, what will we know?”¹³