News deserts hit new high and 50 million have limited access to local news, study finds — from medill.northwestern.edu
Federal funding cuts to public broadcasting may accelerate local news crisis
EVANSTON, ILL. — The number of local news deserts in the U.S. jumped to record levels this year as newspaper closures continued unabated, and funding cuts to public radio could worsen the problem in coming months, according to the Medill State of Local News Report 2025 released today.
While the local news crisis deepened overall, Medill researchers found cause for optimism — more than 300 local news startups have launched over the past five years, 80% of which were digital-only outlets.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications conducted a months-long, county-by-county survey of local news organizations to identify trends in the rapidly morphing local media landscape. Researchers looked at local newspapers, digital-only sites, ethnic media and public broadcasters.
How Local Newsrooms Are Rethinking Political Coverage — from adigaskell.org
For decades, election reporting in the U.S. has leaned heavily on the “horse race”—who’s up, who’s down, and who’s raising the most money. But new research from the University of Kansas suggests that this approach is starting to shift, thanks to a national training program aimed at helping journalists better engage with their communities.
The program, called Democracy SOS, encourages reporters to move beyond headline polls and campaign drama. Instead, it asks them to focus on the issues people care about and explain how those issues are being tackled. In other words: less spectacle, more substance.
Addendum on 11/13/25:
Why Losing Local Newspapers Costs More Than We Think — from adigaskell.org
So why can’t digital journalism fill the gap?
The researchers argue that online media isn’t a true replacement for local reporting. “If you’re in New York writing about San Francisco, you just don’t know the area,” they say. “You don’t have the context. You’re not there.”
Even local online reporters face pressure to chase clicks. “Every journalist now has a global audience,” they explain. “That means the stories that matter most—ones that require digging, patience, and a deep knowledge of the community—often get ignored.”
The takeaway: local newspapers may seem like an old-fashioned idea, but they play a key role in how communities function. And when they vanish, the costs go beyond the news.