By Tom Burke / Herald columnist

Each week, every week, on average two U.S. newspapers die. They cease publishing. Fold (so to speak). So says Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

We’ve lost more than 25 percent of the nation’s print newspapers since 2004, creating not just “news deserts” in 1,400 communities nationwide, but measurably less “democracy” as civic participation decreases as local news coverage shrinks. And local governments, politicians and businesses are getting carte-blanche to do stuff, legally or corruptly, with virtually no oversight or accountability. There are even municipalities who can’t find an “official newspaper” to publish legislatively required legal notices.

Why is this happening you ask. Well, because:

• Because of a sustained, dramatic loss of readership caused by the rise of social media and changing news source preferences;

• Because advertising revenue has dropped precipitously, shifting to the internet, topped by the covid pandemic’s economic downturn;

• Because of the loss of classified advertising to the internet;

• Because hedge funds, seizing an opportunity, are buying up newspapers, squeezing profits, then selling off the assets; and

• Because social media and other internet vehicles steal newspaper content and republish it without sharing in the revenue, thus further eroding financial support and readership.

OK, so the times they are a-chang’in, why should I care?

First, because it could happen here.

Then, because allowing local news to die is just plain dumb. With no local paper you vote dumb, you shop dumb, and you’ll interact with your fellow citizens dumb. (And yeah, I could have used a softer euphemism like “you’ll be less informed” but let’s be honest, it’s dumb to be dumb about where you live.

And, most importantly and speaking specifically, without The Daily Herald, you would have been “less informed” about:

• The Bolt Creek wildfire;

• Covid’s spread in Snohomish County and how local hospitals were coping;

• How Paine Field is a prime candidate to be the No. 2 airport in Western Washington;

• The redevelopment of the Everett waterfront;

• How new federal money is funding local projects;

• Funko;

• Everett police officer’s Dan Rocha’s brutal killing;

• The alleged rapes of an Everett tavern owner;

• New red light cameras in Everett;

• Local homelessness;

• Local real estate and property values;

• The arrest of local Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists;

• A study to build a new stadium for the Everett AquaSox;

• Arlington businesses and rowdy local students;

• The doings and misdoings of city, county, and state legislators, mayors and the governor; and

• The return of the Darrington Bluegrass Festival.

But wait, there’s more in the Herald that’s not online or in the Seattle Times:

• Such as exhaustive local sports coverage from “Player of the Week,” to the AquaSox and Silvertips, to coverage of “prep” athletics and even a story about those intrepid Mill Creekers who fought to make pickleball our state sport. And did.

• Plus Snohomish restaurant reviews, opening and closings; entertainment news; and the best local beers on tap. So while The Seattle Times covers the big city and Bellevue they ain’t often writing about where you and I live.

Now I’ve read letters about the paper’s changes: going to a weekend edition, no Monday paper (which is why I’m in Wednesdays now), and eliminating home delivery.

If anyone thinks The Herald was eager to make those changes, they clearly haven’t been keeping up.

Sound Publishing (the parent company of The Herald and other local newspapers) has made significant investments in presses and facilities. And newsroom staffing is steady, albeit a bit reduced from pre-covid levels.

I’ve spent decades in the media business, in government, and almost 20 years writing professionally, so I think I understand the financial pressures and the social and moral obligations of the newspaper industry.

So when I see people decrying the change to mailed delivery because somehow they aren’t getting their papers in time for their morning coffee I have two reactions:

One, the “changing times” first killed the paperboy’s or girl’s daily deliveries on their bicycle; then did in the 5 a.m. newspaper vehicle delivery business; people can make more and sleep later with other jobs. There aren’t viable alternatives to continue carrier delivery.

And late mail, thus late newspapers, isn’t The Herald’s fault. Back in 2021 Trump’s Postmaster General Louis DeJoy “reorganized” the U.S. Postal Service and it was estimated that 58 percent of Washington state mail would arrive later than it used to. Seems they were right and blaming The Herald for post office problems is like blaming the paper for a Seahawks loss.

Finally, a word about The Herald and value. Gentle reader, it’s a bargain, whether home delivered, online, or both. And if you’re reading this, you probably think so too.

(And for those whining that it’s all “fake news” or liberal-biased, as my grandmother used to say, “Talking through their (tin foil) hat.” The Herald’s newsroom reports it straight.)

I read the Washington Post, New York Times, and Seattle Times daily. I dip into papers in Chicago, Baltimore, and L.A .weekly. I tune into Fox, MSNBC and two local news broadcasts a day. Online it’s the “paper” where I used to live, as well as Twitter, Parler and The Donald; plus Politico, the Daily Beast, The Hill, and Daily Kos. (Too much news? Maybe. But I’ve always been a news junkie and they used to actually pay me to keep up.)

I cannot imagine a sentient being not keeping up with the news; internationally, nationally, regionally, and locally. There’s no shortage of readily-available outlets in the first two categories; but regionally and locally we should all be thankful The Daily Herald is still our newspaper.

So sure, it’s OK to dislike change, but remember, The Herald is the only thing that keeps us from being, ahhhh, “less informed.”

Slava Ukraini,

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.