Across the United States, news deserts are spreading.
A news desert is a community with little or no reliable local news. Hundreds of towns have lost their newspapers in recent years, and research shows the consequences are real: Civic participation drops, government transparency declines and misinformation spreads more easily. Without a shared source of information, communities slowly lose something essential — the ability to see themselves clearly.
That’s why what Blaine has had for decades — a free newspaper delivered to everyone — is so remarkable.
But I didn’t fully appreciate that until I visited La Conner.
When the publisher of the La Conner Weekly News announced the Dec. 18, 2024 issue would be the last — ending a 146-year run of weekly newspapers in town — the journalist in me felt compelled to visit the following week. I wanted to see what it felt like in a town without a newspaper.
The change was quiet, but noticeable.
At the fire association, organizers of a chowder and chili fundraiser for the region’s first fireboat weren’t sure how to spread the word, so they started putting up flyers around town.
At the school district, staff preparing for an important levy election suddenly had no reporter to explain it to the community.
Local merchants had nowhere to advertise. Families had nowhere to submit obituaries.
None of these things seem dramatic on their own. But taken together, they reveal how much a local newspaper quietly holds a community together.
Which brings me back to Blaine.
For 30 years, Pat Grubb and Louise Mugar published The Northern Light. They built a community newspaper supported by advertising and delivered it free to every household from Blaine to Birch Bay.
That is an extraordinary accomplishment.
And they were remarkably transparent about the realities of the business. In recent years, they could still say the paper was profitable — but only by a hair. The margins were thin, and like many newspapers across the country, the economics were getting harder every year.
That’s because the business of news is changing.
For generations, newspapers operated primarily as businesses supported by advertising. Today, that model is under enormous pressure. Across the country, communities are discovering that local journalism isn’t just a business — it’s increasingly a public good that communities must actively support if they want it to survive.
Blaine has been fortunate for a long time. Pat and Louise gave this community something rare: A newspaper that everyone could read, every week, without a paywall.
But like many newspapers across America, The Northern Light is now at a moment where its future will depend on the community it serves.
My job right now is simple: Keep the paper going.
But the larger task belongs to all of us. Together — readers, businesses and neighbors from Blaine to Birch Bay — we need to begin envisioning what the future of this newspaper will look like and how we can make sure it stays in print.
Because in a country where news deserts are spreading, what this community has is not something to take for granted.
It’s something worth protecting.
