A study shared last year by Northwestern University said there are 204 counties in the U.S. without a local news outlet, and at the same time, social media has allowed for the sharing of news and information — sometimes unverified — by individuals.

It's that open sharing of information that has journalism experts concerned.

“There's places right now in the world where you can get information that way that you can't get otherwise. But the problem with that, of course, is there's no editorial gatekeeping,” said David Chanatry, a journalism professor at Utica University.

Chanatry said there is a value and purpose of journalism, particularly with freedom of the press being written into the country’s framework through the First Amendment. But, there are responsibilities and expectations with those who professionally share information.

“The purpose of journalism is to keep people informed, keep them aware, give them an opportunity to at least consider other viewpoints where perhaps, maybe they were not exposed to those viewpoints before," said SUNY Cobleskill assistant professor of communications Douglas Flanagan.

To do this effectively, you have to know your stuff, Capital Tonight Host Susan Arbetter said.

“It is critical to thoroughly research a story and a topic before reporting on it. In fact, that is called the reporting of a story. That's your reporting. It's talking to people. It's talking to people on every side of the issue. It's usually not two sides. It's usually five sides," Arbetter said.

A 2022 finding from Statista shows an approximate 10% decline in the public’s trust of local news from 2016-22. National news had a even bigger drop.

“There's got to be some sort of organization that's working on behalf of the audience out there to get to the bottom of stories or hold people accountable," Flanagan said.

The professors said they relay the responsibility of the news industry to their students.

“We have to solve this problem. How? How are people going to get information about their local communities? Because simply going on to your favorite social media platform to find out what your friends think isn’t really the answer," said Chanatry.