‘It was like a heartbeat’: Residents at a loss after newspaper shutters in declining coal county

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — Months after the last newspaper closed in a declining coal community in West Virginia, residents say they are already experiencing challenges getting and sharing information. In March, The Welch News in McDowell County weekly became another one of the thousands of U.S. newspapers that have shuttered since 2005. It’s a crisis publisher and owner Missy Nester called “terrifying for democracy” and one that disproportionately impacts rural Americans. Residents suddenly have no way of knowing what’s happening at public meetings. Local crises, like the desperately needed upgrade of water and sewer systems, are going unreported. And there is no one to keep disinformation in check.