Who’s Watching the School Board? Inside America’s Local News Collapse
Over the last two decades, America has lost 40% of its newspapers—and print circulation has dropped 70%. Michael sits down with Northwestern U. Professor Tim Franklin, director of the Medill Local News Initiative, to unpack what’s really happening to local journalism. From “news deserts” and ghost papers to the rise of digital startups and the role of public broadcasting, they explore what’s at stake when no one’s left to cover the school board—or the obituaries. Are we losing the local glue that holds our communities together? Original air date 27 October 2025.
October 27, 2025
27 min
1599
Full
1,616 of 1,936
Episode 1599 · October 27, 2025
Who’s Watching the School Board? Inside America’s Local News Collapse
0:00 / 27:56
Excerpt playback isn’t available for this episode — use the full-episode link.
Search the Record
Moment search isn’t open for this episode yet
When it opens, you’ll be able to type any phrase and jump straight to the second it was said.
Allan Lichtman Episodes Around October 27, 2025
Episode 1,616 of 1,936 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
The Unthinkable Option: Make Today’s Ukraine Map Lines Permanent?
Who’s Watching the School Board? Inside America’s Local News Collapse
Summary
Over the last two decades, America has lost 40% of its newspapers—and print circulation has dropped 70%. Michael sits down with Northwestern U. Professor Tim Franklin, director of the Medill Local News Initiative, to unpack what’s really happening to local journalism. From “news deserts” and ghost papers to the rise of digital startups and the role of public broadcasting, they explore what’s at stake when no one’s left to cover the school board—or the obituaries. Are we losing the local glue that holds our communities together? Original air date 27 October 2025.
Topics
Episode details and artwork are published by the show’s own feed. Sentinel plays short cited excerpts and links every episode back to its publisher.