What does it take for a democracy to succeed?
This is a vital question as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in the face of a constitutional crisis.*
More than anything, a successful democracy depends on informed citizens. To responsibly exercise our right to vote, we need accurate information about the issues of the day, from economics to education to the environment.
We also need to know where candidates stand on the issues, and how the outcome of our votes will impact our communities.
Since its founding, the League of Women Voters has dedicated itself to educating voters. Our nonpartisan candidate forums, now underway across the state as the primaries approach, are a perfect example. The forums have been a trusted community resource for decades.
But long before the League came into being — in fact, before the United States came into being — Americans relied on newspapers as their information lifeline. The League believes we cannot celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday without also acknowledging the importance, the very necessity, of the free press.
In 1776, America had about 40 newspapers — the “mass media” of the time. Their print runs totaled 600 or so, but many more people benefited as they heard the contents read aloud in public squares.
Pamphlets were another key news source: Thomas Paine’s famous Common Sense had the largest circulation of any book in American history, in proportion to the population.
The Declaration of Independence made its way into Philadelphians’ hands courtesy of the Pennsylvania Evening Post. And newspapers were pivotal in building and sustaining support for the Revolution.
“In establishing American independence, the pen and the press had merit equal to that of the sword,” wrote David Ramsay, a historian of the time.
The founders recognized this when they sat down to write the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
Of course, American journalism has changed dramatically since. Print and broadcast news outlets proliferated in the 20th century, and social media in the 21st.
But local news reporting has declined sharply in recent years. Numerous studies tell us the U.S. has lost more than 3,400 newspapers and 75% of newsroom jobs in the last two decades. More than 200 U.S. counties are now considered “news deserts.”
In fact, most Americans now live in communities that are severely under-covered by local news outlets, according to a sobering report just released in mid-June by the nonprofit Rebuild Local News and the media database Muck Rack. Specifically, their Local Journalist Index 2026 found that reporting about key civic issues, including healthcare and education, falls short in favor of more sensationalist crime news.
Four years ago, the League in Washington completed an extensive study of how the loss of local journalism chips away at our democracy in the form of reduced voter participation, less community involvement, higher government costs and greater political polarization.
Because of this study, the League — at both the state and national levels — has adopted public policy positions in support of local news. Our positions do not call on government to pay for rebuilding the news ecosystem, but simply to ensure conditions exist that allow news to survive.
Since our founding 106 years ago, the League has championed the education of voters. Part of that effort requires a free and independent press to provide us with facts that enable us to hold our leaders accountable.
I hope you will join us in celebrating and supporting the work of your local news outlets, as we enter our next 250 years. Subscribe, read, share, discuss, comment — and, of course, vote.
*Leadership of the nonpartisan, nonprofit League of Women Voters of the United States announced on April 17, 2025, that the Trump administration’s disregard for congressional authority and governmental checks and balances and defiance of Supreme Court orders related to the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States had plunged the nation into a constitutional crisis.
