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While ample scholarly attention has focused on the effects of news deserts in local communities, very little academic literature has examined the goodbye discourse in the final statements of local newspapers. This article critically explores the collective identity communicated by news organizations during critical incidents such as COVID-19 that proliferated the existing journalism crisis. Guided by new institutionalism theory, this article examines closure statements from 67 local news outlets using critical discourse analysis (CDA). Findings reveal that news organizations use these statements to memorialize institutionalized journalistic myths by valorizing local news. The analysis also reveals the fundamental issues of mythicizing traditional journalism furthered through the creation and proliferation of community news myths. Although critical incidents provide an introspective platform for journalism, our findings suggest that the newspaper crisis will continue without addressing the ideological basis of the normative values and practices that have continuously been reinforced in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the early twenty-first Century's "age of apologies," news organizations have been among the institutions apologizing for their historical role in promoting racist rhetoric by directly addressing their inherent racialized biases. Guided by literature on organizational and racial apologia bolstered by the theory of "institutional myth", this study analyzes 13 apologies published by 12 media organizations to understand how they are performing and communicating reparative actions towards communities of color. Despite their long role in promoting harmful stereotypes and in some cases a complete erasure of narrative from communities of color, news organizations presented "surface-level" apologies that paved the initial path to reconciliation. However, these organizations vigorously defend and uphold the institutional myth of established journalism norms and practices that have been instrumental in their failures, which have led to these apologies. We argue that the reparative work of journalism needs to start by creating an inclusive journalistic paradigm that centers on the ideologies and voices of all groups within our society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]