A NOTE TO THE READER:

What's killing your beloved community newspaper? The internet and search engines? The coronavirus pandemic?

Many newspapers have closed their doors for good. Are newspaper employees, and the newspapers themselves, becoming "nonessential"?

What does this mean for the thousands of industry professionals? Or millions of readers?

DEEMED NONESSENTIAL is based on my 40 years in publishing.

Many loyal newspaper subscribers miss "their paper." What do the closings mean to an industry that is part of our cultural makeup? What will it mean for those who don't trust where they get their news?

How did it become this way? What can be done to fix it?