As newspapers close, local corruption thrives
The internet has upended local news production, introducing new media enterprises and eroding the ability of local outlets to provide investigative journalism. The capacity to monitor government officials, a core function of a free press, is reduced. Ted Matherly and Brad Greenwood write that corrupt actors might view the closure of their local newspaper as reducing the risk of discovery, making them more likely to engage in unscrupulous behaviour.
Corruption is a global scourge. It undermines the stability of prices, the ability to trade and the ability to modernise economies. A key function of the free press has been to serve as a watchdog of the public interest and a bulwark against such misconduct. Newspapers provide this service by vetting government officials prior to them entering official roles, by auditing their actions while they are in office and by publicising their misdeeds after they have been uncovered by law enforcement.
And while the rise of digital platforms has upended the news industry, proponents of the democratisation of the media have argued that citizen journalists might aid in the process of discovering corruption, thereby deterring would-be corrupt actors. After all, if everyone has a camera in their pocket, hiding these actions becomes much more difficult.
