Philanthropy is stepping up its support for local and nonprofit journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry that has been struggling over the last decade or more.

According to a presentation from the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan collective of thought leaders, creatives, scholars and citizens that works to address complex issues, 1,300 American newspapers have closed in the last 10 years and 200 American counties no longer have a local paper. The number of local reporters fell from 455,000 in 1990 to just 183,200 in 2016.

During the pandemic, the need for trustworthy local news is