Report shows struggles of local news across the country

There was “both good news and bad news for local journalism this past year,” according to a report published by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism on Nov. 16, 2023, called “The State of Local News.”

The report highlights the good news, which consists of $500 million in philanthropic efforts to support local news, public officials at the national and state levels considering ways to tackle “digital and journalistic inequalities” and innovations with regard to better-off business models.

Regarding the bad news, however, the report says a decline in local news, or, more specifically, local newspapers, “on the current trajectory,” will see the country losing a third of its newspapers by the end of this year. 

“As a result, most communities that lose a local newspaper — usually a weekly — do not get a replacement,” the report says. “Those communities are typically poorer and without access to high-speed broadband that would connect them with other reliable news sources in their region, state or nation.”

The rapid decline in local newspaper poses risks to society, the report states.

 The reports authors describe this risk as 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.

Key findings of the report include: 

• Residents in more than half of the country’s counties have no, or very limited, access to a reliable local news source, weather that be print, digital or broadcast.

• The country’s newspapers are disappearing at an average rate of more than two a week. 

• The country has lost almost two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2005. 

• Local news alternatives, like online only options, remain limited and are typically found in urban areas not rural. 

• There are still ways local news organizations can thrive in “less affluent markets.” 

• Reversing the decline in local news will be a multi-group effort with similar objectives in mind targeting communities most at risk.

Regarding the country losing “almost two-thirds” of its newspaper journalists since 2005, the report mentions this is largely due to large metro and regional dailies being bought by the country’s largest corporations. 

In an email to The Lakeland Times, Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) executive director Beth Bennett noted that the WNA disputes the findings of the Medill School’s report.

Part of the local news report includes an interactive map which breaks down the country’s local news outlets by every county in every state. 

Bennett said the WNA does not agree with the count of newspapers the report shows are in Wisconsin.

“We do not agree with the count and believe that there are discrepancies like the ones in Wisconsin in other states,” she said. “This has been confirmed to me during discussions with my counterparts at other state newspaper associations.”

Bennett included email correspondence between the WNA and the Medill School of Journalism, which included a spreadsheet which reconciled the report’s findings with information gathered by the WNA. According to that information, a number of local news outlets in Wisconsin were missing from the school’s report, as well as several errors in some of the news outlets that were listed in the report.

Speaking to the country losing local newspapers at an accelerated rate and the impact it could have on people, Bennett said she’s “confident new newspapers will replace areas where there is a need for and support for local news.”

“We are seeing communities voice concern over the struggle that the newspaper industry currently faces,” she said. “When there is enough support, you see new newspapers. Wisconsin, for example, has had several new publications that have surpassed the one-year publication mark and are now certified — Sheboygan Sun, Neenah News and Oshkosh Herald to name a few.”

With regard to the $500 million the report says is being injected into the local news industry, Bennett said that’s primarily gone to nonprofit news outlets. Just recently, she said, attention has been garnered for existing news outlets. 

Bennett said different initiatives to support local news have been introduced in multiple states and the federal level.

“The efforts at the federal level have not been successful to date,” she said. “The WNA introduced an advertising tax credit last year and it did not pass. The legislative leaders said that they were not going to play favorites by giving one industry a tax credit and not another.”

On Jan. 30, Democratic lawmakers in the state legislature introduced a package of bills to support the state’s newspapers, and Bennett referenced those bills, saying the WNA board voted to support them. 

“Session ends mid-March and there isn’t time for much movement on these bills — they also need Republican sponsors,” she said. 

As reported in the Feb. 9 edition of the River News, the three bills authored by Rep Jimmy Anderson (D-Fitchburg), Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) and Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) would create a state tax credit for local newspaper subscriptions, a Civic Information Consortium Board providing grants supporting local journalism and media projects around the state and a journalism fellowship program through the UW System for beginning journalists.

Overall, Bennett said Wisconsin is a “strong newspaper state” and will continue to be. She said she thinks there will begin to be more publications, “especially hard copy publications,” expanding to online options to serve areas where there’s a need for local news.

“Hopefully we will get something through next year by requesting that appropriated money for state and local advertising be earmarked to go (to) the local news outlets,” Bennett said. 

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].