The 2023 The State of Local News report has been issued by the Local News Initiative at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.
“The data and insights collected and analyzed in this 2023 report on The State of Local News paint the picture of a country and society increasingly divided between the journalism-have’s — mostly residents in more affluent cities and suburban areas where alternative news sources are gaining traction — and the journalism have-not’s, those in economically struggling and traditionally underserved metro, suburban and rural communities. This partitioning of our citizenry poses a far-reaching crisis for our democracy as it simultaneously struggles with political polarization, a lack of civic engagement and the proliferation of misinformation and information online,” the report intro states.
Summary of the key findings
Residents in more than half of U.S. counties have no, or very limited, access to a reliable local news source — either print, digital or broadcast.
Newspapers are continuing to vanish at an average rate of more than two a week.
In addition to losing almost a third of its newspapers, the country has lost almost two-thirds of its newspaper journalists — 43,000 — since 2005.
The footprint for alternative local news outlets — approximately 550 digital-only sites, 720 ethnic media organizations and 215 public broadcasting stations — remains very small and centered around metro areas.
At a time of industry-wide economic disruption, news organizations located in affluent or growing communities with diverse sources of for-profit and nonprofit funding are most likely to develop sustainable new business models. However, committed and entrepreneurial local owners and founders can also find ways to thrive in less affluent markets.
Reversing the decline in local news will necessarily involve multiple stakeholders pursuing complementary programs and objectives that target funding to communities and news outlets most at risk.
The report indicates that Waupaca County has five news outlets. The only county in Wisconsin without a news outlet is Bayfield.
Why are we continuing to lose local news? In the end, it all boils down to economics. “Digital disruption, news avoidance… and advertising declines continue to negatively impact all local media, regardless of type,” says Nancy Lane, CEO of the Local Media Association, whose members come from print, digital and broadcast media.
The report also indicates that the number of journalists in Wisconsin have decrease 53 percent between 2005-2022.
The report also states:
The loss of almost a third of local newspapers and the corresponding loss of almost two-thirds of newspaper journalists has not only short-circuited the flow of news and information among news organizations but also has made it harder for people to hold their state and local elected officials accountable.
With fewer journalists covering city halls and state government, the average citizen knows less and less about what their local government officials are doing.
The accelerating loss of newspapers — and the inability of other news outlets to fill the void sufficiently in many communities — has far-reaching consequences for our democracy.