U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran recently took to the Senate floor to mourn the loss of his hometown newspaper in western Kansas, lamenting the decline of local journalism while criticizing what he described as the divisive nature of national media.
It was a heartfelt speech — and for many who work in local news, a familiar one.
But it also raised an uncomfortable question that rarely gets asked out loud:
If local journalism is so vital, why don’t elected officials fund it when it matters most?
Praising local news — while paying national media
In his remarks, Moran contrasted the role of community newspapers with national outlets, suggesting local journalism brings people together while national media tears them apart.
Yet publicly available campaign-spending patterns tell a different story.
There is no clear evidence that Moran’s Senate campaigns have meaningfully invested advertising dollars in small, locally owned newspapers — including hometown or rural weeklies. Instead, like most modern political campaigns, the bulk of advertising spending flows to broadcast television, radio, and digital platforms — the very national and regional media systems Moran criticized.
In Kansas, that typically means campaign dollars landing with large, corporate-owned stations such as WIBW and KSNT, not independent local newspapers.
That distinction matters.
The economics behind the collapse
Local newspapers don’t disappear because people stop praising them. They disappear because revenue disappears.
Campaign advertising is one of the few remaining large, legal, recurring sources of funding that could help sustain local journalism — especially in election years. When political candidates bypass local outlets in favor of regional and national media buys, they accelerate the very collapse they later mourn.
This is not unique to Moran. It is a systemic problem across party lines.
Public figures routinely speak about “local first,” “supporting community,” and “protecting hometown institutions,” while their actual spending decisions tell local newsrooms something else entirely: you are symbolic, not essential.
The irony hits close to home in Topeka
Here in Topeka, the contradiction is even harder to ignore.
This Is Topeka is the only locally owned newspaper in the city — built, staffed, and operated by people who live here, raise families here, and cover the community every day without corporate ownership or out-of-state control.
Yet time and again, public officials, public figures, local businesses, and political campaigns who speak loudly about “local first” spend their advertising dollars with national media companies operating local affiliates, rather than with the local businesses and newsrooms they claim to support.
Those dollars don’t stay in Topeka.
They don’t strengthen the local economy.
They don’t sustain independent journalism.
They leave.
You can’t save local news with speeches alone
None of this negates the sincerity of Moran’s personal connection to his hometown paper. Loss is real. Nostalgia is real. The decline of local journalism is real.
But so is the contradiction.
If local newspapers are essential to democracy, accountability, and community cohesion, then support has to be financial — not just rhetorical. Otherwise, Senate speeches become eulogies delivered after the damage is already done.
Local journalism doesn’t need sympathy.
It needs advertisers, investment, and follow-through.
Until public figures align their spending with their statements, the gap between “local first” rhetoric and reality will continue to widen — and more hometown papers will quietly disappear, one press run at a time.
A note to local leaders and businesses: If you truly believe in “local first,” this is where that belief becomes action. This Is Topeka is the city’s only locally owned newspaper — built, written, and operated by people who live here and cover this community every day. Advertising with us isn’t just promotion; it’s an investment in local journalism, local jobs, and a stronger civic conversation. Your dollars stay in Topeka, support independent reporting, and help ensure our community’s stories are told by those who know it best. If local matters to you, advertise local.
