Why is local journalism on the decline and what can be done about it?

Local journalism is on the decline across the country. Recent analysis by the nonpartisan, nonprofit group Rebuild Local News showed that the U.S. has lost three-fourths of its local journalists over the course of the past few decades.

The study showed that nationwide in 2002, there were about 40 journalists for every 100,000 residents on average. By 2025, that had dropped to just over 8, with Ohio a little under that average.

Why is this happening, and what's being done about it? These questions are the focus of Rick Goldsmith's documentary, "Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink," a film which sheds light on a hedge fund buying up local newspapers and then dismantling them and selling off their real estate for profit.

The documentary is being screened on Monday at Oberlin College in the Science Center's Nancy Schrom Dye Lecture Hall starting at 7 P.M. There will be a panel discussion after the screening featuring the filmmaker alongside national and local journalists.

On Monday's edition of the "Sound of Ideas," we talk with several of the panelists about the current state of local journalism.

Guests:
- Rick Goldsmith, Filmmaker, "Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink"
- Julie Reynolds, Featured Journalist, co-founder of "Voices of Monterey Bay" in California and associate editor at "The Imprint" which covers nationwide youth and family news
- David Jackson, Featured Journalist, senior reporter at "Injustice Watch," a non-profit journalism organization that examines issues of equity and justice in the court system
- Rachel Dissell, Northeast Ohio Journalist, Signal Cleveland

"The Rolling Stones: The Biography"

Bob Spitz, a writer who has published books on Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin now has a wide-ranging biography out about The Rolling Stones. He says that band is the last of "the rock and roll titans" to write about.

Monday on the "Sound of Ideas," Spitz discusses the new book ahead of an appearance at the Brooklyn branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

From their earliest days as a blues band at London's Marquee Club, to the death of founding member and drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, Spitz covers the highs and lows of the band's more than 60 years of making music together.

The book spends a lot of time in the Stones' "golden era" when albums like "Let It Bleed" and "Exile on Main Street" were released. He also doesn't shy away from the dysfunctions the band suffered through, including failed marriages, bad record deals and lots and lots of drug busts.

Details for the event with Bob Spitz at CCPL can be found here.

Guests:
- Bob Spitz, Author, "The Rolling Stones the Biography"