Everyone wants to know how George Santos, the Republican congressman-elect from New York was able to get away with lying about who he is for so long and why he wasn’t caught by the New York Times until after the election.

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The New Republic’s Michael Tomasky noted, “It’s not The New York Times’s job to get dirt on George Santos. It’s the Zimmerman campaign’s and the NY State Dem Party’s job.”

It’s not The New York Times’s job to get dirt on George Santos. It’s the Zimmerman campaign’s and the NY State Dem Party’s job.

— Michael Tomasky (@mtomasky) December 19, 2022

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Tomasky later added: “tweeted Tuesday that I wrong to say that about the Times. I was trying to make the point that campaigns are supposed to do oppo research. But obviously news outlets should vet candidates. I’ve done it as reporter and editor for 35 years.”

The fact is a small local paper, The North Shore Leader, did a better job covering Santos.

Santos slipping through an election with such little scrutiny is the culmination of the decades long gutting of local newsrooms. The result is fewer reporters to investigate candidates in their own backyard.

When President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which significantly raised caps on the number of local newspapers and television stations a single corporation could own, the era of corporate media consolidation took hold. Local news outlets, be they urban or rural, lost resources and laid off reporters.

And that was before Covid.

Since Covid, as the Poynter Institute for Media Studies has documented, local newsrooms and those that are subsidiaries of national outlets have either closed or implemented widespread layoffs. Gannett has shuttered six weekly newsrooms in New York state alone.

Despite those trends, the North Shore Leader, which has covered Long Island for more than 70 years, questioned a September report how Santos went from no income or assets in 2020 to assets worth at least $2.6 million in 2022.

The Leader also said that Santos’ claim to local Republicans that he owned a $10 million mansion in the Hamptons was not backed up by real estate records. A search of online articles by the largest paper in Long Island, Newsday, brings up no mention of those allegations before the election.

In fact, Newsday noted that Santos didn’t give an interview to their editorial board in 2022 so the newspaper republished its interview of him from 2020.

Local news outlets will likely contract even more, especially if we head into a recession. While no news may be great news for lying politicians, it’s awful news for our democracy and terrifying to ponder what may lie in waiting.

What more pernicious stories may have slipped through?

Santos last two tweets are the following:

On December 22: To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week. I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more. Happy Holidays to all!

And yesterday: I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful day with your family and friends! Wishing peace, health & happiness to #NY03 & our country.

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful day with your family and friends!

Wishing peace, health & happiness to #NY03 & our country. pic.twitter.com/WPlm8BTL2C

— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) December 25, 2022

Let’s see what he has to say next.