In Ann Arbor, student newspaper 'The Michigan Daily' is the only paper

As more than 2,000 newspapers across the US have closed or merged, student journalists from Michigan to Arizona have stepped in to fill the void

Municipal committee meetings — the tedious minutiae of Ann Arbor’s local governance — do not tend to draw a crowd. On a recent afternoon, Katherina Sourine was among only a few in attendance.

But Sourine, a University of Michigan senior, was there because she had to be. As one of four city and government reporters for Ann Arbor’s sole daily newspaper, she had biked through a steady rain between classes to take notes on the city’s plans for developing a new park.

“If we weren’t covering it, no one would know what’s going on,” said Sourine, 21, who also plays rugby and