Local newspapers for sale in newspaper dispensers in the town of Salina, Utah.
Credit: Dan Chung for the Guardian

When a local newspaper closes, the cost of government increases. That’s the conclusion of new survey from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, which draws a direct line between loss of the watchful eyes of local newspapers and a decline in government efficiency. (emphasis added)

Paul Gao, a professor of finance at the college, said he got the idea for the study while watching John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight about the decline of local newspapers almost two years ago.

The result of that study, Financing Dies in Darkness? The Impact of Newspaper Closures on Public Finance, argues there is a direct correlation between the loss of a local paper and higher costing – or less efficient – government.

Dozens of local newspapers have closed, reduced their printing schedule or gone online in recent years. Circulation numbers have fallen approximately 27% from 2003 to 2014, according to the Pew Research Center and there […]