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Join TSPR for a weekly conversation about media issues. News Director Rich Egger and expert panelists discuss what’s in the news about the news business.

Newsroom Closures & the Coronavirus

Shop Talk panelist Will Buss recently wrote a column for The McDonough County Voice about newsroom closures across the U.S. He wrote some publications blame their shutdown on the economic strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buss said newspapers have been disappearing for years so he finds it interesting to blame recent closures on the pandemic. His fellow Shop Talk panelists agree that numerous factors are contributing to the decline that’s created local news deserts in some parts of the country.

Shop Talk is a weekly panel discussion about journalism issues.  This week’s program featured Will Buss, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University and advises the student editors at the Western Courier, the students at student radio station The Dog, and the WIU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists; Rajvee Subramanian, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University; and TSPR News Director Rich Egger.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.