Half of the 3,143 counties in the United States now have only one newspaper, usually a small weekly, and almost 200 counties in the country have no newspaper at all.

“The people with the least access to local news are often the most vulnerable — the poorest, least educated and most isolated,” the report said.

The report was the latest to highlight the grim state of the once-thriving newspaper industry. A separate Pew Research Center report this year showed newsroom jobs fell 23 percent since 2008, mostly in newspapers.