Reed Anfinson, Co-Publisher of the Stevens County Times published an editorial about the “internet dark side.” He starts by recognizing the value of the Internet for education and economic development but focuses on unsavory activities surrounding the Internet…

As federal, state, and local leaders consider the benefits of broadband access, they must also consider its dark side.

It exposes our youth to online sexual predators. It is responsible for online bullying and isolation and is linked to higher rates of teen suicides.

Amazon preys on the dollars available in our communities to support local businesses as people order everyday basics online.

Facebook, Google, and the corporations they own decimate community newspapers while capitalizing on our reporting to earn money. We’ve lost nearly 2,900 newspapers since 2005, and we are losing additional newspapers at two per week. Around 1,800 communities and more than 200 counties no longer have a newspaper.

It is valuable to explore all sides of an issue. Twenty years ago, I traveled around Minnesota to show people the Internet, so this is a perspective I’ve heard before. In some ways those concerned citizens were right about how dark things could be.  Clearly, I’m unabashedly a booster for broadband, so I have my perspective too but still wanted to tackle the topic. And my bias may show too.

Anfinson focuses on how the internet has left local newspapers in the lurch, which I’m sure he feels acutely as a publisher…

Facebook, Google, and the corporations they own decimate community newspapers while capitalizing on our reporting to earn money. We’ve lost nearly 2,900 newspapers since 2005, and we are losing additional newspapers at two per week. Around 1,800 communities and more than 200 counties no longer have a newspaper.

When newspapers disappear, fake news websites and print products show up pretending to be professional news but, in fact, are backed by political extremes or foreign countries.

Communities without local news aren’t informed about the challenges their communities face. Without that knowledge, infrastructure, quality of life, and community loyalty deteriorate.

Voting rates drop, fewer races are contested, people are less informed about election issues, and may not know who is running for office. People know little about the records of those serving them.

I agree that the death of the local paper has created information deserts; I also recognize that the cow is out of the barn and she’s not going back. So, what can we do to prepare our communities given the current situation. Is there way to embrace the old and the new? Here are some thoughts:

• Is there an opportunity to get public funding for local newspapers? Right now, the MN Legislature is looking at a bill that would get funding from paid services to support public access programming. Is there an appetite for something similar for news?
• Is there a hybrid model for an online newspaper that works with citizen journalists to encourage more content and diverse voices? I was on a board of Twin Cities Daily Planet, which trained and published citizen journalists. (Sustainable funding was an issue.) It was a great way to get New Americans, older residents, subject specialists to share their stories and for people to learn about a wide range of local events, issues and community members.
• Information literacy training! This goes back to my days as a librarian. I worked at a university and every freshman sat through at least one classroom of training on information literacy. We looked at how to find an author or corporate sponsor of information, the date of publication, and asked if the resource well respected. We talked about bias and motive of the information producer and more. We need more training like this – and I’d extend that to include things like how to tell if the Facebook friend request is real, how can you tell if a website is secure enough for a financial transaction. The Supreme Court is currently looking at the future of online speech; regardless of what they decide, the power to assess the quality of information is valuable.
• Is there an opportunity to partner with the local government? Since the pandemic, many, if not most, local governments livestream public meetings, which makes it much easier for people to attend and engage. No more taking the day off of work to attend a session, no more travel. Providing easy access to those meetings with a public calendar (that maybe also ties into the high school sports schedule) and maybe hosting a conversation during or after the meeting might encourage even greater participation.

Some of these ideas have been done in local communities; several projects were funded by Blandin Foundation throughout the years as a way to build value in the network. Again, I think the key is not one or the other – but yes and. Yes ,to local news and yes, to broadband.