Today is Super Tuesday and voters in 14 states and one US territory will go to the polls to cast their preferences in this potentially game-changing presidential primary. In politics, this is a day of many superlatives: the largest number of states participating, the most voters going to the polls, and the most delegates at stake. But there’s more: WGBH News is proud to be part of the largest “neural network” of reporters in the country — public media’s interconnected journalists — 4,000 strong — poised to cover every county in the nation. This powerful nationwide network is ensuring that voters receive the resources they need to participate in democracy as fully informed citizens.

WGBH News has already partnered with Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina public radio stations during those earlier primaries. Today, we will partner with our colleagues on the ground in California, Vermont, Maine, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Utah and Minnesota, sharing two-way, on the ground coverage with reporters in each primary state.

Providing that information is critical because news deserts continue to emerge across the US. According to the UNC School of Media and Journalism’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media, 171 counties do not have a local newspaper. Nearly half of all counties (1,449) have only one newspaper, usually a weekly.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that overall newsroom employment has declined 45 percent since 2004. But public media’s local journalists have been on a steady rise since 2011, with 4,263 radio and TV journalists in 2018, now in every county in the US.

WGBH is also a proud member of the New England News Collaborative, sharing stories and reporting with NPR stations across the region. WGBH’s bureaus in Dorchester, Worcester and at the State House—along with our affiliate stations WCAI on Cape Cod and New England Public Media in Springfield—will connect the Commonwealth with local and national stories.

Local news is not only defined by what happens in one community, it is also about what people in those communities need to know and learn from others on issues that affect the entire country. Public media is the most trusted institution in America and we are doing our part to ensure that all communities have access to the information they need.
Listen to our Super Tuesday special coverage tonight on WGBH here.