Earlier this week, I got a push notification from the San Francisco Chronicle with a map of Covid-19 infections by ZIP code. It was exactly the kind of local news I felt I needed to read—immediately. I looked away from the Zoom meeting I was on, tapped and instantly shared the link with friends.  

Covid-19 has devastated local news publications which were already on life support. As every week passes, their prospects are more grim—so grim that U.S. lawmakers are considering public funding for local news, an idea has never been popular in this country.