The role that media and news companies serve in this country goes far beyond simply entertaining their readership. So what happens then when production and engagement with news radically shifts? The reality is that while the advent of change, such as the internet, may be spearheading many of the changes occurring within the financial structuring, production, and consumption of news, equally as important are the local communities and individuals engaging with the media. This interdisciplinary assessment aimed to address these topics through a combination of analysis of existing literature, original field research in the form of observation of and input from employees at local news companies, and my own personal experience as a staff writer. Having engaged in ethnographic research at both The Daily Gazette and Times Union in the winter of 2025, direct observation of these offices and accounts from employees serve as the foundation of this analysis. What this field research revealed were substantial trends towards a digital first newsroom, something that brought with it many operational changes. Along with the logistics of production, new technologies are also impacting the quality and style of writing produced by journalists. Media and news was something consistently described as uniquely reflective of the population consuming it. For news produced in the United States, it must straddle a confounding line between capitalist initiatives and free speech. Media today, with its broad context of parent companies and stakeholders has a focus on profitability rather than information and education. While news and media companies have had to scramble to adjust to industry change, consumers are also engaging very differently than they were before. The number of newspapers in this country are decreasing, and so too are the number of journalists. News outlets are facing increasing financial stress, leading to layoffs, downsizing, and buyouts. Meanwhile, these news organizations' readership are becoming less and less media literate, failing to distinguish local news from national news and becoming increasingly distrustful of their content. A thorough understanding of media and democracy serves as a vital foundation for understanding the impact that contemporary trends can have on consumers.
Acknowledgements: Thank you to the Seward Fellowship and Scholars Program for facilitating this opportunity.