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Marketplace All-in-One

Democracy in a desert near D.C.

Marketplace All-in-One

Marketplace

Business, News

4.51.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 February 2024

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As part of our Democracy in the Desert series, we head today to King George County, just about an hour’s drive from D.C. There, we hear about how a changing media landscape left a community with few credible news sources and examine the sorts of impacts that’s had. When news go bust, where can people turn? Then, securities regulators are reportedly investigating whether OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, misled investors.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Democracy in a Desert near D.C. I'm David Brancaccio. I've been traveling to what are called

0:07.2

News Deserts in Super Tuesday states to hear about the business models failing or informing voters as they go to the polls on Tuesday.

0:15.0

Today voices from a desert only an hour's drive from the center of American politics.

0:20.0

It is this newspaper's desire to print all of the news throughout King George County.

0:24.0

A paper called the King George News.

0:27.0

For your convenience, we have secured correspondence in every section of the county whose names

0:31.0

not hot off the presses, but yellowed in a museum it's from June

0:34.9

1948 Renee Parker I'm currently the president of the King George Historical Society

0:41.9

that vintage paper bit the dust decades ago.

0:44.6

The last local paper published in this county was a different one called the King George

0:48.8

Journal.

0:49.8

Joel Davis was the final editor and publisher who valiantly kept things going for about a year

0:55.0

till the final edition in 2017.

0:58.0

When I first got the job, three of the largest advertisers called within a month

1:06.2

and you know pulled their advertising and I asked why and they said well you know it's

1:12.1

free on Facebook can you beat free well

1:16.6

obviously not again Renee Parker at the historical society who once ran for county

1:22.2

supervisor unfortunately there are you know Society who once ran for county supervisor.

1:23.0

Unfortunately, there are, you know, whatever percent of the population will get whatever they need off Facebook.

1:29.0

So they're reading whatever, you know, somebody's hoping that they'll believe because they believe it,

1:34.6

which can be good and can be bad. We see a lot of that in our local elections.

1:39.8

The freelance star newspaper published a half hour away in Fredericksburg does have an ace reporter

...

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