The Medill State of Local News Report 2024 was unveiled earlier this week, providing a sobering look at the state of local journalism. Created by Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative, the report emphasizes not only the difficulties facing local journalism but also potential strategies for its future sustainability.
“In our 2022 report, we predicted that by the end of 2025, the U.S. would have lost one-third of its print newspapers over the past two decades,” said Zach Metzger, director of the State of Local News Project, noted, “This year, we found that we’ve already crossed that threshold.”
Currently, around 5,600 newspapers exist, with a staggering 80% categorized as weeklies.
“I think that the local news crisis is deepening, and continuing to grow at an alarming pace,” Metzger told Diverse. “The number of transactions and the rise of some new large chains whenever new chains emerge in that kind of way, then there’s always a concern of consolidation of the papers they have acquired.”
According to the report, In the past year 127 community papers have seen their demise and since 2005, more than one in three newspapers have folded. Today, nearly 55 million Americans live in places that could accurately be labeled “news deserts.” News deserts are counties without any locally based source of news.
The U.S. has also lost more than one-third of its newspapers since 2005. The Medill team calculated that since that year, the U.S. has seen a decline of 3,200 newspapers. Experts say that each closure adds to the void felt by communities deprived of local reporting. The impact of these closures is stark with the number of these news desert counties rising from 204 in 2023 to 208 this year.
“These losses have been incredibly damaging, especially in a time of social media misinformation, disinformation and isolation. It’s disconnected people from a lot of local issues that really matter, said Brant Houston, who holds the Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois and is the author of Changing Models for Journalism: Reinventing the Newsroom.
Houston said that in an era where newspapers are declining, finding other methods of communication is essential. It’s also about creating new ways to reach people and get them the information they need, he added.
“It can be radio, or even texting, but most important it’s getting somebody who can roam around a few counties and show up at meetings or review meeting transcripts using AI,” he said. “Those are some of the things that can be done. But because there’s been such loss of population in these areas, the old model of advertising is just not working.”
In addition to the growing news deserts, researchers noted that the trend of diminishing news sources shows no signs of decreasing. The number of counties with only one news source has increased to 1,563. Data revealed that over half of the nation’s 3,143 counties now experience little to no local news coverage, worsening the information deficit and leading to a critical state for journalism in America.
Despite the stark realities of the report, there were also elements of hope. The report highlighted a net increase of more than 80 stand-alone local digital news sites within the past year, reflecting a shift toward digital platforms. This surge includes new entrants into the media landscape, as nearly one-third of these digital sites are less than five years old. Notably, the growth also encompasses 30 newspapers that transitioned from print to digital formats, indicating adaptability in a challenging industry.
“I think these digital platforms can be very effective. And part of what I would say that is a positive about the way things have shaken out, is that this is going to be even more prevalent in bigger cities,” said Rick Edmonds, Media Business Analyst for the Poynter Institute. “Instead of having to rely on the newspaper, or how good or bad the newspaper is, there are multiple sources people can go to now. So that can definitely be a positive.”
The current media landscape isn’t uniform. Nearly 90% of the new digital sites are emerging in urban metro areas, leaving many hard-hit rural counties still struggling for attention.
Tim Franklin, senior associate dean and John M. Mutz Chair in Local News at Medill’s School of Journalism
Metzger said that economics, and infrastructure of rural communities all play a role in the lack of penetration of digital outlets in areas without resources, asserting that these areas lack the broadband access to support a robust digital newsroom
Tim Franklin, senior associate dean and John M. Mutz Chair in Local News at Medill’s School of Journalism, emphasized the gravity of the situation.
“This research shows that the crisis in local news is deepening, and fewer Americans have access to news they need about their communities to be informed citizens,” he said and added that while there are signs of improvement with digital news startups, the contrasting realities within urban and rural contexts further complicate the fight for quality, local journalism.
The Medill report also includes key findings about the state of journalism jobs in America. More than 7,000 newspaper jobs vanished between 2022 and 2023, compared to a few hundred the year before, further adding to the local news crisis.
“The report is valuable for putting some numbers on things,” said Edmonds “We kind of knew that this was a bad time and there were a lot of layoffs, and that’s a really unusually high total for the year. The pandemic had been a big plus in terms of audience, and then that audience kind of drifted away after the pandemic was over.”
Ironically, the past year has also witnessed a 43% rise in newspaper mergers and acquisitions, translating into 258 papers changing ownership through 75 transactions. Smaller and newer chains, such as Carpenter Media Group, are leading this surge. This movement suggests a consolidation within the industry, as outlets adapt to the economic realities of the current media landscape.
Another revealing data point from the Medill study was the increased emphasis on identifying at-risk counties. Using predictive modeling from the school’s Spiegel Research Center, the team expanded its “Watch List” of counties at high risk of losing local news, from 228 last year to 279, a 22% increase. Notably, despite the rise in network digital sites measured at 740 none of these networks are covering previous news desert counties, highlighting a disconnect in service spheres.
