Reimagining Journalistic Roles: How Student Journalists Are Taking On the U.S. News Desert Crisis

• Published in: Journalism studies (London, England) England), 2022-02, Vol.23 (3), p.338-355
• Main Authors: Finneman, Teri, Heckman, Meg, E. Walck, Pamela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Altruism; Community journalism; Deserts; Electronic newspapers; Generation Z; Journalism; journalistic roles; Journalists; Mass media; News; news desert; Racial inequality; student media; Students
• ISSN: 1461-670X; 1469-9699
• DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2021.2023323

The loss of mainstream newspapers in the past decade combined with the decline of the minority press has created ongoing discussion of the news desert crisis in U.S. journalism and around the world. While hundreds of communities go without access to local news, long-term solutions remain elusive. This research examines three case studies of U.S. journalism schools where student journalists operate digital startups in news desert communities. Through oral histories, this study explores how these college students belonging to "Generation Z" view their roles as journalists compared to normative professional conceptualizations and explores the practical implications of such. Students involved with these news desert startups placed greater emphasis on service or altruistic roles of journalism than the watchdog role often emphasized by professional journalists and other student media. Furthermore, many of these students embrace a more historical purview of what encompasses a news desert by emphasizing racial inequalities in traditional journalistic coverage. These student-run online newspapers illustrate not only a potential solution for addressing news deserts but a reimagining of the conceptual and practical roles of student journalists.