When a local paper closes, accountability closes with it. The story vanishes before it is ever told.
This project starts from that problem. In 2019, at Parsons, I built an awareness campaign to promote local journalism and help preserve the outlets that make it possible. Local news companies were facing serious financial pressure, and that pressure was shrinking the number of places where a community could speak for itself.
The project traces how that happened. I researched the history of local journalism’s decline, visualized the data, and built a narrative argument for why local news is indispensable in a democracy. The core claim is plain: without local coverage, the public loses its ability to hold local institutions accountable and stay informed. This loss is felt block by block.
The work took several forms. I built physical prototypes, storyboarded the argument, and produced narrative videos. It was shown as an exhibition, and it asked viewers to do something specific: support and engage with the local outlets near them.
The page holds three campaign videos and the research paper as a PDF. Everything was made in Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and After Effects.
