Opinion: New York needs local news

Alfonso Quiroz is a resident of Jackson Heights and former editor of The Pullman Flyer. Photo courtesy of Quiroz

By Alfonso Quiroz

A sign of New York City’s recovery post-pandemic is evident on street corners throughout our borough. The news boxes are once again populated by the latest editions of newspapers that cover Queens, and I could not be happier.

Newspapers have always been a part of my life since my childhood. I grew up in a small community on the far south side of Chicago, and the local newspaper, the Pullman flyer, was the necessary read to discover all that was happening in my neighborhood. I got to know my community, and neighbors became friends. The paper helped me at a very young age to discover the value of civic engagement.

Sadly, prior to the pandemic, local news coverage across our country already was suffering: more than 2,000 U.S. newspapers had closed in the last decade and a half, according to one survey. That’s a fourth of our country’s newspapers. 

The pandemic accelerated that loss. And the cost to us, as a populace, is immeasurable. According to Poynter, more than 60 local newsrooms alone closed last year. As news outlets have closed, and journalists lost jobs, those remaining have had to try to cover more with less time, and so we’ve lost coverage so valuable to our communities.

I am fortunate to live in a city - and borough – where neighborhood news is integral to our lives. I always admired the intrepid reporters who cover the Community Boards, where I once served. These are the same journalists who report on our local nonprofits, the diverse immigrant communities, and the small businesses struggling to survive. And this season, they continue to devote time to covering our elections. 

Local news outlets hold out elected officials accountable, and more than ever we need a society that cherishes accountability. Without local coverage, we suffer from an information vacuum: our citizenry is less informed, so less likely to vote, to engage civically.

I am writing this not as a candidate for council but as a longtime Queens resident. Each week I look forward to picking up hard copies of the Queens papers (and continue to read the digital editions, too, like the Queens Eagle!). I read them cover to cover, and while I pivoted to reading online over this last year, I felt I was missing out. We were missing out on all the news going on around us.

Local news helps us to understand our communities, and the world around us. What happens globally affects us locally.

As we look ahead, we need to invest in our local news outlets in Queens. They provide most of the original reporting about the health of our neighborhoods, and they connect with traditionally underserved communities of color.

As we reopen and as we recover, I encourage readers to invest in the news outlets in Queens. Yes, this means advertising as well as sharing coverage with neighbors, so they understand the value of community news. And yes, it means following coverage both through a paper in your hands as well as news on your screen. And, it means keeping dedicated journalists employed. 

Far too many towns across our country now exist in a news desert.  We cannot let the pandemic force even more to shut down, or we all suffer the consequences.

Alfonso Quiroz is a resident of Jackson Heights and former editor of The Pullman Flyer.