Blog: The Impact of Local Journalism

In today’s ever-changing media landscape, it has become more and more challenging for local news outlets to keep up. The newspaper industry has been hit especially hard by these changes, with employment in newsrooms continuing to decline. More than one-fourth of U.S. newspapers have shut down since 2005, with the current closure rate hovering at around two per week.

In the face of such statistics, one must ask if local journalism has a place in this changing world, or if it will someday turn into a relic of the past. Does community reporting even still matter, or is it something that can easily be replaced or accounted for by larger national news outlets? The answer, if truly considered, is a resounding no.

Community journalism is vital to maintaining a well-informed public that encourages people to engage critically with the world around them. Local news reporters provide communities with the information that is most important to them, in a way that larger news outlets cannot. Local journalists have a finger on the pulse of the unique needs of their communities because they themselves are members of those communities, unlike reporters from national news outlets who can only get so close and learn so much from their removed position.

People generally trust local news sources more than they do national sources. According to a Gallup/Knight poll from 2022 affirmed that Americans tend to trust local news more than national news sources, even as overall trust in news declines. Americans’ trust in national news outlets dropped four percentage points from 2019 to 2021, while trust in local news outlets only dropped one percentage point over the same period.

Though there is no statistical data on why Americans tend to trust local news outlets more than larger outlets, there are many probable reasons behind it.

First, local journalism has an approachability that national or even statewide news outlets struggle to achieve. In the case of many communities, most community members have some sort of connection to somebody working for a local news outlet — whether that be through a friend of a friend or a relative. Having this personal connection, even if not utilized, can help feel local journalists (and their content) feel more approachable to community members, and thus increase the trust in that news outlet.

Second, studies show that many people (both in the U.S. and elsewhere) view local journalism as a vessel through which to become more connected in their communities. A 2019 survey of news consumers in Australia indicated that “community-oriented values such as a sense of belonging, the ability to share the news with others, and the loss of a local news service,” contributed to news consumers’ willingness to support local news outlets. As community reporting deepens community identity and involvement, ties of trust are naturally strengthened.

Third, the personal stake of community reporters can strengthen audiences’ trust in local news outlets. Local journalists are typically members of the community that are personally affected by what happens in that community, just as their audiences are. Many larger news outlets do not have a personal investment in the smaller regions on which they report, making it more difficult for them to connect with audiences in those regions in a meaningful way that builds trust.

The perception of the trustworthiness of local news compared to larger news outlets cements it as a a crucial component of communities. But even beyond the trust factor, local news outlets contribute something to the community that cannot be found anywhere else — a voice.

As local news outlets have struggled to keep doors open amid financial challenges and changing audiences, local communities have suffered. The U.S. has lost more than one-fourth of its newspapers, according to research from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Left behind are increasing numbers of “ghost newspapers” (papers that have survived, but no longer have the capacity to provide the quality and quantity of reporting they once did) and “news deserts” (communities without local news coverage).

Writing for The Washington Post, Margaret Sullivan painted a bleak picture of the future of journalism, and the United States, without community reporting. She asserted that watchdog journalism, civic engagement, and political polarization are all negatively affected by the decline or loss of local news outlets.

“To put it bluntly, the demise of local news poses the kind of danger to our democracy that should have alarm sirens screeching across the land,” Sullivan said.

One of the challenges that has been so damaging to community reporting is the struggle many local news sources face in adapting to changing times. Citizen journalism, where people who are not professional journalists report news without going through a publication, has grown in prominence on social media sites. Half of U.S. adults get their news from social media sometimes or often, according to Pew Research Center.

The future of American democracy, as foreseen by Sullivan, is teetering precariously on a cliff’s edge, dependent on the survival of community journalism. While this may be the case, I find it challenging to believe that local news reporting could be eradicated so easily and so soon. Statisticsaffirm that Americans continue to value local news sources despite the ups and downs of the economy and changing platforms.

I don’t think Americans are ready to give up on local news outlets yet, even though they may not always support them financially. Community journalists offer a relationship between the news and the local consumers that no other news source can replicate as they are now. That does not mean, though, that local news sources will not continue to face challenges.

Local journalism feeds healthy communities. As community reporters and news outlets seek to address the challenges facing the local news industry, they should remember what sets community reporting apart — trust and relationships. If these things are kept at the forefront, I believe the future of local journalism may not be as bleak as many people fear.