Some might argue that a dying newspaper industry is good news for law enforcement because both policing leaders and the rank and file wouldn’t have to worry about departmental mistakes or malfeasance causing any embarrassment or trouble.

Those people would be quite wrong.

Transparency and oversight are imperative for the future of law enforcement. Collectively, these help police departments build trust with their communities while increasing their opportunities to improve law enforcement practices through education and reform.

While perhaps not traditionally welcomed across the law enforcement landscape, oversight plays a vital role in accountability, transparency, and the protection of individual rights within our justice system. It’s through all of these actions that law enforcement can truly foster stronger relationships with communities, especially when the public can see that there are mechanisms in place to address police misconduct and ensure fair treatment for all.

And yet, one of the chief purveyors of that oversight has been newspapers. Unfortunately, through both advances in communication (the Internet) and a failure by newspaper leaders to properly prepare for the future, the newspaper industry appears to be in its final throes.

In 2006, some 75,000 reporters worked at newspapers across the United States. Today, that total has fallen[1]  to 31,000 and is expected to continue decreasing. But it’s not just newspaper staff that are getting smaller. Newspapers themselves are closing at a rate of two per week, leading to one in five Americans living in a county with one or no local news organizations.

The lack of journalistic oversight means a likely increase in corruption and government waste. For example, a recent study found the rates of government-issued bonds grew significantly within three years of that community’s newspaper closing. With no one left to monitor and scrutinize local government, politicians and city managers are free to make bad decisions with no recourse, leaving taxpayers to cover the costs.

Sure, a lack of oversight means a police officer can act inappropriately or fail to follow police procedure and it won’t show up on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper. There’s also far less pressure on law enforcement leaders to discipline their police officers or make systemic changes to their departments.

In the short-term, it might make everyone’s life at the police department more pleasant. But such a lack of authority only ensures those mistakes or bad acts will continue, which only creates a greater divide between the department and the community while also increasing the potential for violence. That means not only members of the public will be in heightened jeopardy but police officers too.

So don’t take joy in knowing the journalistic industry is facing so much peril. Instead, understand what it means to a police department and the community it is sworn to protect. Take steps to increase the transparency of every law enforcement agency because doing so makes it a whole lot safer out on the streets for everyone involved.

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to your local newspaper!

 Footnote

1. https://apnews.com/article/journalism-united-states-39ef84c1131267233768bbb4dcaa181b