A growing number of local news organizations are embracing business models that emphasize quality and community engagement. Philanthropy can play a key role by helping to build sustainable models, ensuring editorial independence and providing seed money for innovations.
But the scale of the problem is vast, with hundreds of newspapers having closed in recent years and others struggling to make payroll and maintain journalistic integrity. The surviving outlets are reorganizing, downsizing and evolving to become more financially viable. Some are experimenting with alternative reporting approaches such as solutions journalism and restorative narratives, which attract more attention and encourage civic participation. Others are focusing on specific topics they can deliver with established excellence and creating partnerships that bring together diverse groups of players.
The good news is that the public continues to see value in local news and support its existence. A large majority say they think local news media are important to their communities and perform well in several aspects of their work, including keeping citizens informed and serving as a watchdog over government leaders. And most Americans also say they’re willing to pay for local news, though only a modest share actually do.
While many Americans are satisfied with their local news sources, they’re less happy with the coverage of some specific topics. For example, fewer than half of Americans who get news about the weather say they are extremely or very satisfied with it. More than half are also dissatisfied with the amount of news about crime, government and politics and schools.
