Amid a steep decline in newspaper circulation and advertising revenue, the loss of thousands of local newsrooms and a widening chasm of information deserts across the country, it’s encouraging to see that most Americans continue to believe that their local media outlets matter. They also say that these outlets perform well at a number of core obligations, including reporting news accurately.
But the challenges to local journalism are profound. Thousands of communities now lack a local news outlet – and many that remain are struggling financially. And while a majority of Americans say they get their local news from print and TV, fewer report paying for it. Those who do pay say they do so for a variety of reasons, but the two most common are that they can get local news for free elsewhere and that they don’t feel a need to support their community’s media organizations.
Despite these challenges, most Americans surveyed say they believe that local journalists should be advocates rather than neutral. This is particularly true of younger adults – almost four in 10 of whom see this as a vital role for local journalists. By contrast, a majority of older adults (70%) think local journalists should be neutral on most issues.