There were 212 counties considered news deserts in the U.S. in 2025 – meaning they have no professional news outlet. Another 1,525 counties have just one remaining news source, and we know that many of these are “ghost newsrooms,” where a brand might still exist but have little to no staff.
In total, 50 million Americans, about 15% of the country, have limited to no access to local news, the Local News Initiative at Northwestern University found.
Newspaper closures, in particular, have disproportionately impacted places outside of large cities. The Local News Initiative found that 80% of news deserts were in counties the federal government classifies as predominantly rural.
Yet the need for information remains.
The 2025 Local News Initiative survey found that among people who consume news daily in news deserts, 51% said they get local news from non-journalistic sources, like social media groups, influencers and friends and family.
This is why News Creator Corps is launching a session of our Trusted Creator Fellowship specifically for rural areas, the Rural Creator Fellowship. Most news deserts exist in rural communities – and a third of news consumers in those areas are already relying creators on social media. As new deserts continue to expand in these areas, creators serving them will undoubtedly become an increasingly important and utilized source of information.
Rural communities deserve access to accurate information, just like everyone else. Our program is a slightly different version of our flagship Trusted Creator Fellowship, this time catered to creators who serve rural areas of 50,000 people or less. Creating place-based content and cultivating communities tied by geography is a coverage specialty in itself. These creators’ relationships with their sources, the people and companies they cover, and even their audiences may be different than those in larger cities.
During NCC’s five-week, paid program, these fellows will improve their fact checking and reporting skills, digging into best practices for citing sources, interviewing, research, public records, and more. Upon graduation, they will join our Collective, where they can continue to learn, have NCC’s support and connect with other NCC alumni from across the country.
News creators have already become a major source of information for one-in-five Americans and their role is even more critical in places with fewer news alternatives. That’s why NCC is investing in rural creators.
You can apply to become a fellow here. Applications are due June 7.