SALT LAKE CITY — Americans living outside of cities are just as interested in reading and seeing good journalism, but they are more likely to feel ignored than those living in urban and suburban areas.
That’s according to a new study released by the Pew Research Center.
According to the study, 61 percent of urban dwellers said they believed media covered the area where they lived, while only 41 percent of rural residents felt the same. Those in the suburbs were right in the middle, with 51 percent feeling like the news media pays attention to them.
The data comes at a difficult point for the business of journalism in the United States, with newspapers laying off thousands of reporters nationwide in the digital age as classified advertising revenue has dwindled to near nothing.
In Utah and the surrounding states, where the vast majority of the population lives in four counties along the Wasatch Mountain range, local newspapers are especially important, according to the editor of the 131-year-old Richfield Reaper, David Anderson.
“We're the watchdogs. we're the ones that have to let people know what's going with their community. It's a responsibility that we take very seriously here,” Anderson said.
