2022/01/05 by Teri Finneman, Meg Heckman, Pamela E. Walck · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis #Media Studies and Communication #Radio, Podcasts, and Digital Media
paper · doi:10.1080/1461670x.2021.2023323
openalex publication_date 2022/01/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/19
The loss of mainstream newspapers in the past decade combined with the decline of the minority press has created ongoing discussion of the news desert crisis in U.S. journalism and around the world. While hundreds of communities go without access to local news, long-term solutions remain elusive. This research examines three case studies of U.S. journalism schools where student journalists operate digital startups in news desert communities. Through oral histories, this study explores how these college students belonging to “Generation Z” view their roles as journalists compared to normative professional conceptualizations and explores the practical implications of such. Students involved with these news desert startups placed greater emphasis on service or altruistic roles of journalism than the watchdog role often emphasized by professional journalists and other student media. Furthermore, many of these students embrace a more historical purview of what encompasses a news desert by emphasizing racial inequalities in traditional journalistic coverage. These student-run online newspapers illustrate not only a potential solution for addressing news deserts but a reimagining of the conceptual and practical roles of student journalists.