Greg Glassner has more than forty years of experience in the newspaper business, the majority of it as editor of community weeklies in Virginia, including the Herald-Progress in Ashland. He is the author of five books, including biographies of Attorney General William Wirt and Governor William “Extra Billy” Smith of Virginia.Charles Richardson is a McClatchy Journalism Fellow at Duke University and a fellow at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland. He has worked in newspapers, radio, and television and was the editorial page editor at the Macon Telegraph for twenty-four years.Sandra Sanchez has been a journalist for the past thirty years, including many years covering the Southwest border and immigration for USA Today. She also worked at the Washington Post; was the opinion editor for The Monitor in McAllen, Texas; and is currently a correspondent for Nexstar Media Group’s BorderReport.com.Jason Togyer is the founder of Tube City Online, a nonprofit news website and internet radio station. He previously worked as a reporter for the Washington, Pennsylvania, Observer-Reporter, McKeesport Daily News, and Greensburg and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

American Deadline offers a fresh and unique chronicle of a year we’ll never forget—2020—through the lens of four communities where newspapers have weakened or vanished. These dispatches from the front lines of democracy—communities in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia—remind us of what's lost when Americans have only national (and increasingly partisan) news sources. American Deadline reminds us that local news is never more needed than in a crisis like a pandemic. We need local news not just to hold local officials accountable but to provide a more nuanced, textured view of politics from the ground up. Communities across America have been starved of reliable local news. This book vividly illustrates the dire consequences for our democracy.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction, by Michael Shapiro1. The Mystery of Caroline County, Virginia (Bowling Green)2. What’s Vexing Macon, Georgia? (Macon)3. Red Streets versus Blue Streets in McKeesport, Pennsylvania (McKeesport)4. Fighting the Wall Along the Rio Grande (McAllen)5. Are Democrats an Endangered Species in Caroline County? (Bowling Green)6. Yes, Dorothy, We Are Way Outside the Beltway (Macon)7. Fear and Loathing in the Time of Coronavirus (McKeesport)8. In the Rio Grande Valley, a Border Closes, and Signs of a Wall Appear as the Pandemic Spreads (McAllen)9. The Ghost of a Weekly Covers the Pandemic (Bowling Green)10. Standing on Sinking Sand, Living in Limbo (Macon)11. Transparency in a Time of Pandemic (McKeesport)12. COVID-19 Has Changed How We Report Stories on the Border (McAllen)13. How the Pandemic Is Playing in Rural Virginia (Bowling Green)14. A Good Idea at the Time (Macon)15. In Towns Like McKeesport, the Future Was Already Precarious. Then Came Coronavirus. (McKeesport)16. Saving Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge Extends Beyond Political Boundaries (McAllen)17. At the Edge of a Pandemic, Its Direction Unknown (Bowling Green)18. Dirty Politics in the Digital Age (Macon)19. How Facebook Has Undermined Communal Conversation in McKeesport (McKeesport)20. South Texas Was Reopening. Now COVID-19 Is Roaring Back. (McAllen)21. Racism, Confederate Statues, and the View from Frog Level, Virginia (Bowling Green)22. Macon–Bibb County Votes While a Nation Protests (Macon)23. “McAllen and South Texas Need Help Now” (McAllen)24. When a Newspaper Dies, What Fills the Void? (Bowling Green)25. To School or Not to School—a Burning Question (Macon)26. What Will “Normal” Mean After COVID-19? (McKeesport)27. South Texas Is a Bad Algorithm Right Now (McAllen)28. In Rural Virginia, a Tale of Two Congressional Districts (Bowling Green)29. A Local Election, School Reopenings, and the Pandemic (Macon)30. Will Western Pennsylvania Become a String of Ghost Towns? (McKeesport)31. Where Are the Campaign Signs and the Politiqueras? (McAllen)32. A Confederate Soldier Moves On (Bowling Green)33. Macon–Bibb County and the Unrelenting Shock of COVID-19 (Macon)34. Will the Sons of Steelworkers See Trump’s COVID-19 Behavior as Strong or Reckless? (McKeesport)35. Counting on Next Year Being Much Better (McAllen)36. Election Day ApproachesPostscript: January 20, 2021Index

Greg Glassner has more than forty years of experience in the newspaper business, the majority of it as editor of community weeklies in Virginia, including the Herald-Progress in Ashland. He is the author of five books, including biographies of Attorney General William Wirt and Governor William “Extra Billy” Smith of Virginia.Charles Richardson is a McClatchy Journalism Fellow at Duke University and a fellow at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland. He has worked in newspapers, radio, and television and was the editorial page editor at the Macon Telegraph for twenty-four years.Sandra Sanchez has been a journalist for the past thirty years, including many years covering the Southwest border and immigration for USA Today. She also worked at the Washington Post; was the opinion editor for The Monitor in McAllen, Texas; and is currently a correspondent for Nexstar Media Group’s BorderReport.com.Jason Togyer is the founder of Tube City Online, a nonprofit news website and internet radio station. He previously worked as a reporter for the Washington, Pennsylvania, Observer-Reporter, McKeesport Daily News, and Greensburg and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

American Deadline offers a fresh and unique chronicle of a year we’ll never forget—2020—through the lens of four communities where newspapers have weakened or vanished. These dispatches from the front lines of democracy—communities in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia—remind us of what's lost when Americans have only national (and increasingly partisan) news sources. American Deadline reminds us that local news is never more needed than in a crisis like a pandemic. We need local news not just to hold local officials accountable but to provide a more nuanced, textured view of politics from the ground up. Communities across America have been starved of reliable local news. This book vividly illustrates the dire consequences for our democracy.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction, by Michael Shapiro1. The Mystery of Caroline County, Virginia (Bowling Green)2. What’s Vexing Macon, Georgia? (Macon)3. Red Streets versus Blue Streets in McKeesport, Pennsylvania (McKeesport)4. Fighting the Wall Along the Rio Grande (McAllen)5. Are Democrats an Endangered Species in Caroline County? (Bowling Green)6. Yes, Dorothy, We Are Way Outside the Beltway (Macon)7. Fear and Loathing in the Time of Coronavirus (McKeesport)8. In the Rio Grande Valley, a Border Closes, and Signs of a Wall Appear as the Pandemic Spreads (McAllen)9. The Ghost of a Weekly Covers the Pandemic (Bowling Green)10. Standing on Sinking Sand, Living in Limbo (Macon)11. Transparency in a Time of Pandemic (McKeesport)12. COVID-19 Has Changed How We Report Stories on the Border (McAllen)13. How the Pandemic Is Playing in Rural Virginia (Bowling Green)14. A Good Idea at the Time (Macon)15. In Towns Like McKeesport, the Future Was Already Precarious. Then Came Coronavirus. (McKeesport)16. Saving Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge Extends Beyond Political Boundaries (McAllen)17. At the Edge of a Pandemic, Its Direction Unknown (Bowling Green)18. Dirty Politics in the Digital Age (Macon)19. How Facebook Has Undermined Communal Conversation in McKeesport (McKeesport)20. South Texas Was Reopening. Now COVID-19 Is Roaring Back. (McAllen)21. Racism, Confederate Statues, and the View from Frog Level, Virginia (Bowling Green)22. Macon–Bibb County Votes While a Nation Protests (Macon)23. “McAllen and South Texas Need Help Now” (McAllen)24. When a Newspaper Dies, What Fills the Void? (Bowling Green)25. To School or Not to School—a Burning Question (Macon)26. What Will “Normal” Mean After COVID-19? (McKeesport)27. South Texas Is a Bad Algorithm Right Now (McAllen)28. In Rural Virginia, a Tale of Two Congressional Districts (Bowling Green)29. A Local Election, School Reopenings, and the Pandemic (Macon)30. Will Western Pennsylvania Become a String of Ghost Towns? (McKeesport)31. Where Are the Campaign Signs and the Politiqueras? (McAllen)32. A Confederate Soldier Moves On (Bowling Green)33. Macon–Bibb County and the Unrelenting Shock of COVID-19 (Macon)34. Will the Sons of Steelworkers See Trump’s COVID-19 Behavior as Strong or Reckless? (McKeesport)35. Counting on Next Year Being Much Better (McAllen)36. Election Day ApproachesPostscript: January 20, 2021Index

Greg Glassner has more than forty years of experience in the newspaper business, the majority of it as editor of community weeklies in Virginia, including the Herald-Progress in Ashland. He is the author of five books, including biographies of Attorney General William Wirt and Governor William “Extra Billy” Smith of Virginia.Charles Richardson is a McClatchy Journalism Fellow at Duke University and a fellow at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland. He has worked in newspapers, radio, and television and was the editorial page editor at the Macon Telegraph for twenty-four years.Sandra Sanchez has been a journalist for the past thirty years, including many years covering the Southwest border and immigration for USA Today. She also worked at the Washington Post; was the opinion editor for The Monitor in McAllen, Texas; and is currently a correspondent for Nexstar Media Group’s BorderReport.com.Jason Togyer is the founder of Tube City Online, a nonprofit news website and internet radio station. He previously worked as a reporter for the Washington, Pennsylvania, Observer-Reporter, McKeesport Daily News, and Greensburg and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

American Deadline offers a fresh and unique chronicle of a year we’ll never forget—2020—through the lens of four communities where newspapers have weakened or vanished. These dispatches from the front lines of democracy—communities in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia—remind us of what's lost when Americans have only national (and increasingly partisan) news sources. American Deadline reminds us that local news is never more needed than in a crisis like a pandemic. We need local news not just to hold local officials accountable but to provide a more nuanced, textured view of politics from the ground up. Communities across America have been starved of reliable local news. This book vividly illustrates the dire consequences for our democracy.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction, by Michael Shapiro1. The Mystery of Caroline County, Virginia (Bowling Green)2. What’s Vexing Macon, Georgia? (Macon)3. Red Streets versus Blue Streets in McKeesport, Pennsylvania (McKeesport)4. Fighting the Wall Along the Rio Grande (McAllen)5. Are Democrats an Endangered Species in Caroline County? (Bowling Green)6. Yes, Dorothy, We Are Way Outside the Beltway (Macon)7. Fear and Loathing in the Time of Coronavirus (McKeesport)8. In the Rio Grande Valley, a Border Closes, and Signs of a Wall Appear as the Pandemic Spreads (McAllen)9. The Ghost of a Weekly Covers the Pandemic (Bowling Green)10. Standing on Sinking Sand, Living in Limbo (Macon)11. Transparency in a Time of Pandemic (McKeesport)12. COVID-19 Has Changed How We Report Stories on the Border (McAllen)13. How the Pandemic Is Playing in Rural Virginia (Bowling Green)14. A Good Idea at the Time (Macon)15. In Towns Like McKeesport, the Future Was Already Precarious. Then Came Coronavirus. (McKeesport)16. Saving Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge Extends Beyond Political Boundaries (McAllen)17. At the Edge of a Pandemic, Its Direction Unknown (Bowling Green)18. Dirty Politics in the Digital Age (Macon)19. How Facebook Has Undermined Communal Conversation in McKeesport (McKeesport)20. South Texas Was Reopening. Now COVID-19 Is Roaring Back. (McAllen)21. Racism, Confederate Statues, and the View from Frog Level, Virginia (Bowling Green)22. Macon–Bibb County Votes While a Nation Protests (Macon)23. “McAllen and South Texas Need Help Now” (McAllen)24. When a Newspaper Dies, What Fills the Void? (Bowling Green)25. To School or Not to School—a Burning Question (Macon)26. What Will “Normal” Mean After COVID-19? (McKeesport)27. South Texas Is a Bad Algorithm Right Now (McAllen)28. In Rural Virginia, a Tale of Two Congressional Districts (Bowling Green)29. A Local Election, School Reopenings, and the Pandemic (Macon)30. Will Western Pennsylvania Become a String of Ghost Towns? (McKeesport)31. Where Are the Campaign Signs and the Politiqueras? (McAllen)32. A Confederate Soldier Moves On (Bowling Green)33. Macon–Bibb County and the Unrelenting Shock of COVID-19 (Macon)34. Will the Sons of Steelworkers See Trump’s COVID-19 Behavior as Strong or Reckless? (McKeesport)35. Counting on Next Year Being Much Better (McAllen)36. Election Day ApproachesPostscript: January 20, 2021Index