Episode Summary
Executive Summary: The episode argues that local newspapers are not just consumer products but civic infrastructure: when they disappear, communities lose watchdog oversight, public accountability weakens, borrowing costs rise, and civic participation declines. Using Denver’s Rocky Mountain News shutdown and research on newspaper closures, the show shows how “saving money” by not subscribing can ultimately cost taxpayers and democracy more.
Main Topics: Newspapers as civic infrastructure, not just media products: The episode reframes local newspapers as essential public-interest institutions akin to police departments or public schools, whose value extends beyond individual readers to the broader community. The closure of the Rocky Mountain News: Laura Frank’s experience at the Rocky illustrates the human and civic costs of a newspaper shutting down, including unfinished investigations and the loss of local watchdog reporting. Research linking newspaper decline to higher municipal borrowing costs: Finance professors study county-level newspaper closures and find that reduced press oversight is associated with more expensive municipal loans, implying real financial costs for taxpayers. News deserts and the erosion of local accountability: The episode explains that when newspapers vanish, corruption, waste, and inefficiency are less likely to be exposed, increasing risk for banks and the public. Newspapers and voter turnout: Evidence shows newspapers increase participation, especially in local and state elections where national media cannot substitute for community-specific coverage. Alternative models for journalism: The episode highlights nonprofit, public radio, and wealthy-owner-backed models as partial solutions, with Laura Frank’s iNews as a collaborative nonprofit success story.
Key Arguments: Consumers may rationally cancel subscriptions, but newspapers generate community-wide benefits that individuals do not fully capture, creating a free-rider problem. A newspaper’s watchdog function reduces corruption risk; when it disappears, local governments appear riskier to lenders, raising borrowing costs. The decline in newspaper advertising revenue and newsroom employment has real downstream effects on public finance, not just on media companies. Online news sources and social media do not fully replace local newspapers because they rarely provide sustained, place-based reporting on city halls, zoning boards, and local elections. Newspapers are especially important for local and state civic life, where turnout and information quality depend on sustained coverage. Collaborative nonprofit journalism can recover some lost watchdog capacity, but it is slower and cannot fully prevent harm caused by reporting gaps.
Data Points: Newspaper journalist job losses: about 20,000 - Between 2006 and 2014, as advertising revenue and print circulation declined Loan cost increase after newspaper closure: about 0.1% - Average long-run increase in government borrowing costs in counties that lost a newspaper Average loan size in study sample: $65 million - Used to illustrate how a small rate increase translates into taxpayer costs Extra annual taxpayer cost per loan: about $65,000 - If borrowing costs rise by 0.1% on a $65 million loan Extra cost over a 10-year loan: about $650,000 - Illustration of cumulative cost from a 0.1% interest increase County-level study scope: 200 counties - Counties where newspaper numbers declined, compared with similar counties in the same state Time window of closures studied: 1996 to 2015 - Period used in the finance study of newspaper closures Lead exposure in village affected by e-waste dumping: 70% of children - 60 Minutes investigation described a village in China with dangerous lead levels from e-waste processing Turnout in 10 of America's 30 largest cities: fewer than 15% - Reported for mayoral elections, highlighting weak local democratic participation U.S. presidential election turnout (2016): 61% of eligible voters - Used as a comparison to show how low local election turnout can be
Pivotal Quotes: "who bears the cost when nobody wants to pay?" — Shankar Vedantam: Framing question of the episode about free riding and newspaper subscriptions "Tomorrow will be the final edition. the Rocky Mountain News." — Corporate manager at the Rocky Mountain News: Announcement to newsroom staff that the paper would close "It's the unknown that is also very worrisome to me." — Laura Frank: Reflecting on the unseen harms and unreported stories that may result when a newspaper disappears
Implications: Local news is a public good: if communities underfund it, they may face higher borrowing costs, more corruption risk, and weaker democratic participation. Sustainable support now likely requires nonprofit, public, or collaborative models.
From the Episode
That's because newspapers are not like most things we buy. If I decide not to buy a watch, I save money. But if I decide not to pay for a police department, I might save money in the short run, but end up paying more in the long run. Most of us treat newspapers like consumer products, but new research suggests they might be more like police departments. This week on Hidden Brain, who bears the cost when nobody wants to pay? In the winter of two thousand nine, a few Denver based reporters headed to a region of mountains and canyons called the Rhone Plateau. Just a few years earlier, it was the site of an oil and gas boom. But that boom had turned into a bust. So we were going up the Rome Plateau where many fewer workers were employed and looking at how people were struggling to try to keep things going and make ends meet. Laura Frank was an investigative reporter for the Rocky Mountain News. We were riding up with some of the oil and gas workers trying to get up the plateau. It had rained and so the dirt road going up the plateau had turned really into kind of a mud.
Laura had listened to the announcement with dismay. The newspaper was going to either be sold in the next 30 days or it would be closed. And if you remember what was happening in December of 2008, we knew we were on the verge either of a great recession or the next Great Depression. So I was pretty sure that they probably weren't going to sell the newspaper over the holidays in 30 days when no one knew what the economic outlook was. Really, it's going to be. Days after her reporting trip to the Rhone Plateau, Laura got word about her fate at the Rocky. The corporate managers had flown in, and, you know, you're in a big and sophisticated newsroom. We knew they had landed. People had sources at the airport. We knew they were there, and we pretty much knew what they were going to say. The same balding man in a suit gathered journalists around him. Tomorrow will be the final edition. the Rocky Mountain News.
This is clearly a success story. Laura lost her job at the Rocky, but that led her to set up iNews. She got stories like the e-waste investigation out to the public. The government made changes to the program in response. But Laura still thinks there is an immense cost when a newspaper closes. It took two years for us to get the story out. So, how many children were exposed and wound up with high levels of lead in their blood while we were trying to figure out a way? Way to get the story out. Yes, I think when there's a really important story that a journalist somehow finds out about, it will eventually get out. But my God, who was harmed while we waited? And those are only the stories we know are going untold. It's the unknown that is also very worrisome to me. One of the bedrock assumptions of economics is that when individuals behave rationally, good things happen to them. Good things happen to their communities, their society. The invisible hand of the market takes all of our rational, selfish decisions and produces a society that flourishes.
About Hidden Brain
Why do I feel stuck? How can I become more creative? What can I do to improve my relationships? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, you’re not alone. On Hidden Brain, we help you understand your own mind — and the minds of the people around you. (We're routinely rated the #1 science podcast in the United States.) Hosted by veteran science journalist Shankar Vedantam.