Penelope Muse Abernathy (born August 28, 1951) is an American journalist, former media executive, author and researcher who specializes in the study of news deserts.

[4] Abernathy received a bachelor's degree in history with a secondary emphasis in English literature and journalism from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1973.

[7] She joined The Wall Street Journal in 2003 and, as senior vice president was responsible for the business operations of the newspaper's international publications and for planning major U.S. initiatives, such as the launch of weekend edition in 2005.

[8] She was inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame in 1998 and received the Alumni Professional Achievement Award from UNC at Greensboro in 2023.

[13][14] Abernathy authored or co-authored six reports exploring the political, social and economic consequences resulting from the loss of local news: