The front page of an early October 2025 edition of The Keene Sentinel features stories about city elections, the ongoing drought in New Hampshire and two Medicare Advantage providers leaving the state. It’s all local news.
The town of Warner made headlines this summer that no town wants. The town administrator sought a restraining order against a selectman for alleged assault. Shortly afterward, the assault charges were dropped and she was put on leave. A firm hired to audit the town’s finances abruptly quit, citing concerns about the reliability of the town’s records, among other things.
All of it — and more — played out in public during selectboard meetings, where residents were allowed to ask questions and raise concerns. If not for the state’s right-to-know law, it could have played out behind closed doors instead and not led to public scrutiny of the town’s financial practices or conversations about adding cameras to town hall to address safety concerns.
Studies have shown a link between the decline in the kind of local news coverage the Bow Times offers and increased government spending, growing community polarization, a drop in civic engagement, and lower voter turnout.