They always have been. A few times I've read it and I was always disappointed. They are about all that is left though. I keep looking for someone with real reporters who cover my local area and I can't find it. Just big city papers that have an edition for my area but no reporters to dig into local stories.

Does your local NPR station (or even PBS) have local journalists? Obviously their primary formats aren’t written, but my local NPR has a fantastic website also.