The decline of local newsrooms could make it harder for us to detect the next disease outbreak

Two years ago, Helen Branswell wrote for STAT that “When Towns Lose Their Newspapers, Disease Detectives are Left Flying Blind.” Epidemiologists depend on regional outlets in monitoring outbreaks, Branswell explained, and in 2018, they were concerned about increasing threats to an important resource. Two years after the publication of Branswell’s article, even more towns have lost their newspapers, and the onslaught of a worldwide pandemic casts the essential role of disease surveillance into hyper-focused relief. Here’s the irony: our society is better positioned to recognize the value of monitoring local...