In the past few weeks, the precipitous decline of the newspaper industry was highlighted by the actions of an independent citizen-reporter.

The biggest story in America was being covered not by the New York Times or the Washington Post but by a YouTube guy.

Nick Shirley uncovered the day care fraud in Minnesota that has reaped billions of dollars for Somalians, and apparently terrorists in Somalia.

Shirley’s find topped an ongoing revelation of fraud in Minnesota dating back five years.

It involves Democrats, so the Fake News Industry has been running from it, and admittedly nothing has been proven yet.

But proof wasn’t needed in 1973 when the media was off and running with Watergate, which not coincidentally involved a Republican tripped up by a disgruntled Democrat who was tipping two reporters. It was nightly news long before any wrongdoing was proven.

But that’s not the real story.

The story is how little the media matters today compared to its heyday during Watergate.

Everyone is aware of the decline in newspapers. Most people may assume that readers of the printed versions simply became online readers.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case either. Gannett has an estimated 1.7 million readers online, and that is down from 2 million the previous year. It isn’t growing.

Gannett, which controls many Florida newspapers, claims a print readership of 2.9 million. But that is a made-up number and doesn’t reflect how many people buy the papers. By one estimate, 1.9 million people subscribe to Gannett papers.

That is the readership of 230 newspapers! At one point, one newspaper could command that much circulation. The internet and a surge to the left combined to doom the print industry.

It is grim indeed. Since I retired from the local newspaper, now under Gannett control, circulation has plummeted (not because I retired). Papers are very reluctant to release their subscription numbers, but it is believed to be about 14,000 for the local paper’s print edition and probably less for online.

Now hear this: The guy scooping everyone on the Minnesota fraud story has 1.22 million subscribers – and has gotten more than 135 million views on his video about the fraud.

I know. They aren’t all paying for his content. But it can be monetized. What is important is that apparently one guy in his basement can command the attention of 135 million people while a newspaper chain that blankets the country can only get 2 million clicks.

That comparison indicates what consumers think of the respective products.

No wonder the YouTubers are called “influencers.”

Here’s how the investigation of the fraud cases in Minnesota involving Somali-Americans began and unfolded — based on credible reporting and official records:

The initial federal probe that drew widespread attention began with suspicions around a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future — an organization that received federal funds to provide meals to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This began in April 2021 and in January 2022, federal authorities executed raids on sites around the Twin Cities — marking the investigation going “overt” (public and active).

This case became the starting point that later broadened into other fraud investigations.

But Shirley’s revelations have brought new, glaring light to the case and the total picture that is emerging is startling, with huge implications for government handouts and immigration policy.