Dear Apple News > please support 'local' local news! 🙏

Message to Laura Kern, Eddy Cue, and Tim Cook: please support 'local' local news

In her new book Ghosting the News, Margaret Sullivan chronicles the decline of local news in the United States and around the world, and how our cherished American and other democracies around the world are threatened as a result. 

Sullivan describes what happens when local newspapers are bought by conglomerates or worse, hedge funds. There may be an effort to consolidate economies of scale. All too often, however, these transactions turn into efforts by Vulture Capitalists to squeeze the last remaining profits out of a newsroom by gutting it financially through staff cuts and consolidating operations. The last can be a legitimate business strategy to reduce redundant expenses.

"Democracy Dies in Darkness" reads the online masthead of of The Washington Post. On this Margaret Sullivan and WaPost owner / Amazon founder Jeff Bezos agree. But the Post is a national newspaper, while Sullivan's book focuses on the decimation of local hometown newspapers.

Enter Apple News+, which has been struggling to build relationships with major news organizations like The New York Times and Washington Post. " On July 15, MacRumors reported Apple News launched local news from five major regions:

Along with audio stories, Apple is adding new local and regional news outlets for readers, including The Charlotte Observer, the Miami Herald, and The News & Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina, plus a curated local news experience available in the Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

The curated news feature will include coverage of topics that are important to local communities like dining and restaurants, weather, news and politics, and more.

"‌Apple News‌ showcases so much great journalism, and we're excited to help bring it to life in new ways with ‌Apple News‌+ audio stories and a new daily news show, ‌Apple News‌ Today," said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of ‌Apple News‌. "We also greatly value our many local news partners -- our new local news feature highlights their work for readers who live, and are interested, in those communities."

Ever the innovator, we here at Apple Consulting Marin are hoping this may be the beginning of Apple News' efforts to support local news at the most local level.

  

Reference Articles

• NPR Fresh Air interview with Margaret Sullivan August 3, 2020.
• From the July 2020 Atlantic, Megan Garber review of Ghosting the News by Margaret Sullivan.
• From the July 14 edition of Fortune, Rachel King interviews Margaret Sullivan.