News deserts stood out to me because I have been all too privy to the effects of misinformation on rural, white American communities. I am from Charleston, WV, and when I heard about news deserts, I related to it immediately because it is a very real problem that I see every day.
Since the 2016 election, the nationalization of media has had a negative effect on areas without robust local media, those who want and need news about their local communities. The slow death of local media has created an epistemic closure in conservative, rural areas. This has lead to the popularization of "fake news" stories being widely spread on Facebook, which are usually untrue and extremely misleading.
There is no easy solution to solve this problem and contradict the narratives that lots of rural white voters have come to believe are true. It is nearly impossible to combat all of the fake news with "real news," especially because most of the sources offering the real news aren't trusted by those in the small communities.
Local media outlets used to be that trusted news source for those in small communities. They are slowly being economically strangled, however, by today's political environment that requires them to turn to nationally syndicated programs and stories, instead of focusing on local events. These problems would most likely be solved by a more robust local media presence, specifically a larger local media online presence, but they lack the means to pay for that.
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