As local news organizations continue to disappear across the United States, George Washington University researchers are linking shrinking access to community-based journalism with greater tendencies toward feelings of isolation and loneliness.
A study co-authored by Danny Hayes, a professor of political science at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, and former political science and marketing major Anusha Trivedi, B.A. ’26, examined the relationship between regional reporting and social well-being. Their research found that people living in areas with weaker local news environments—so called “news deserts” with few or no local news providers—report higher levels of loneliness, with the relationship particularly pronounced in rural communities.
“Over the last three decades, thousands of local newspapers have closed, the local TV business has undergone corporate consolidation and reporting on cities and towns all over the United States has evaporated,” Hayes said. Hayes and Trivedi tie that erosion of local journalism outlets to declining civic engagement, increasing polarization and a disconnect between residents and their local governments. “It’s hard to overstate how dramatic a change to American civic life [news deserts have] produced,” Hayes said.
Professor of Political Science Danny Hayes and former political science and marketing major Anusha Trivedi, B.A. ’26, co-authored research linking the disappearance of local new outlets to shifts in American civic life.
The study, published in the “Journal of Communication,” adds a new dimension to research examining the relationship between the changing media environment and Americans’ social well-being. Past projects have often focused on smartphones and social media. But Hayes and Trivedi argue that local journalism is an underestimated contributor to helping people feel connected to their communities.
“The fact that many people feel socially isolated or disconnected from their neighbors may not just be because they’re scrolling through their phones all day,” Hayes noted. “It may also be because they simply don’t have access or pay attention to news about what’s happening in their local communities.”
The vanishing press
Titled “Loneliness and the Local News Environment,” the new paper is based on two previous studies.
First, the researchers analyzed state-level data using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 Household Pulse Survey, the 2024 State of Local News report and the 2025 Local Journalist Index to measure both loneliness levels and local news availability. They found higher levels of loneliness in states with weaker local news environments.
Second, the researchers analyzed individual-level data using a nationally representative survey—the 2024 Cooperative Election Study—to better understand if individuals who expressed more loneliness consumed less local news. They found that people who rarely consumed local news reported greater loneliness than those who regularly consumed local news.
The relationship was strongest in rural areas, where access to local journalism has declined significantly. The findings suggest that changes in the local news landscape may have implications not only for how people stay informed but also for how connected they feel to their communities.
“Our study supports the need to protect local newspapers in a time when these critical sources of connection are under threat,” said Trivedi, who now works as a paralegal and digital marketing coordinator at Migliaccio & Rathod LLP, a class action litigation law firm in Washington, D.C.
Hayes said the research built on his discussions with GW undergraduate students over several years. Trivedi took his Media and Politics class in 2024, and Hayes credits her research skills and commitment with jumpstarting the project. “Honestly, I don’t think the paper ever would have been written without her,” he said. “Anusha was a dedicated and enthusiastic co-author, and she’s an example of how amazing GW undergraduates are.”