The local journalism business model of the past, predicated on profitable advertising revenue and paying daily readers, has dissolved. From 2000 to 2020, newspapers lost about 81% of their advertising revenue, much of it to social media platforms. Since 2005, over 25% of local news outlets—2,200—have shuttered. Fifty percent of local reporting jobs are gone. The ongoing consolidation of the local press by hedge funds and private equity firms, focused on maximizing shareholders’ profits, has hastened this decline. These firms control at least 50% of daily news outlets, with no clear path to profitability other than cost-cutting.