The health of local news is a crucial component of America’s democracy. But over the past two decades, thousands of local newsrooms have closed as circulation and advertising revenues fell and the financial pressures of digital disruption piled on top. As a result, many communities lack regular access to high-quality reporting on civic issues, from urgent matters of public safety and the environment to daily services like healthcare, education and transportation.
In places that have lost their local news, researchers have found more polarization, less cross-party collaboration and voting, higher levels of government corruption, and declining levels of community participation. These problems can be mitigated if residents have enough good information to make their communities better.
While Americans say they’re generally dissatisfied with the national and global news media, they express more satisfaction with local outlets than any other type. Whether through their local newspaper, radio station, online forum or community app, most people find that local news does the best job of keeping them informed about their communities and holding leaders accountable compared to other sources.
As a result, there are promising signs of reviving locally-rooted journalism. A number of private equity firms, hedge funds and family-owned chains have offered to donate their local newspapers to nonprofit groups or convert them into Public Benefit Corporations, which would allow them to receive significant tax breaks. But such replanting requires the support of supportive government policies. That’s why this year’s roadmap was developed in partnership with a broad coalition of local journalists, newsroom leaders and other experts and innovators.
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