trends |
Local TV News is Consolidating and Contracting Can it adapt to major changes in audience and business model?
For months, there was uncertainty. Then on March 31, there was shock. Employees at WRTV, the ABC affiliate local TV station in Indianapolis, gathered together ...
research |
Nominate a Local News Bright Spot We are collecting nominations for Local News ‘Bright Spots’ to feature in our 2026 State of Local News Report.
While our challenges as an industry are large, so is our capacity for innovation – and for inspiration. Now in its fourth year, the Bright ...
news |
Baltimore was just the start for local-news champion Stewart Bainum Jr.
After creating a successful local-news startup, The Baltimore Banner, Stewart Bainum Jr. and his team began exploring opportunities in other places. Last fall, they ranked ...
Podcast |
Ben Cotton on lessons at the New York Times on growing digital subscriptions
In the second episode of the State of Local News Podcast, host Tim Franklin—Professor, John M. Mutz Chair in Local News, and founding director of ...
research |
Searching for sustainability New report finds nonprofit news outlets need to develop robust revenue outside philanthropy to succeed long term
Digital-first nonprofit newsrooms are generating only a fraction of the revenue of the newspaper industry from 20 years ago, and their “earned revenue” through things ...
trends |
Going Underground What local newsrooms can learn from informal news networks
Over the course of human history, write Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel in “The Elements of Journalism,” the spread of news and information was quite ...
Podcast |
Steve Grove on AI, Building Trust and Reinventing the Minnesota Star Tribune Introducing the Medill State of Local News Podcast with Tim Franklin
In the inaugural episode of the Medill State of Local News Podcast, host Tim Franklin—Professor, John M. Mutz Chair in Local News, and founding director ...
news |
Researchers document AI firms' pilfering of news sites
If they were stealing jewels or pirating movies, AI companies might be prosecuted. But they face few consequences for ripping off news publishers, using copyrighted ...
news |
Medill awards funding to Chicago local media organizations The Bigs takes home a $10,000 first-place prize
Terrence Tomlin and Eugene McIntosh didn’t expect to walk away from a week at Medill’s Media Innovation and Leadership Academy (MILA) with a check for ...
news |
Big donors get blinkered view of local journalism crisis
A new report, commissioned by funders of local news, offers provocative suggestions for saving the industry. It includes some sharp observations. They should be valuable ...
news |
Chicago-area publications join Arizona State’s NEWSWELL Growing Community Media donates its four publications, seeks long-term sustainability
Last summer, interim executive director Max Reinsdorf knew Growing Community Media (GCM) needed to find a more sustainable path forward. The financials simply weren’t adding ...
news |
Other states making progress on saving local journalism
New Mexico is poised to become the latest state to save local newsroom jobs through policies approved by its Legislature. The Land of Enchantment offers ...
trends |
All in on high school sports At the Minnesota Star Tribune, an investment decades in the making takes shape
There’s no shortage of reasons why Chris Carr loves high school sports — the community, the joy and the camaraderie, among them. For 25 years, ...
research |
The Media Ecosystem Chicago A deep dive into the Windy City’s innovative and expansive media landscape
This text was adapted from our report on the Chicago Media Ecosystem. Download a full PDF version of the report. In early 2025, Project C, ...
research |
With no local news, those in news deserts turn to social media feeds, influencers and gossip Medill Local News Initiative survey shows America’s fraying relationship to reliable information.
Roughly half of people in news deserts relied on non-journalistic sources, not news organizations More than 200 news desert counties in the U.S. predominantly located ...
news |
Alden Global Capital makes push to buy Daily Herald in Chicago suburbs Full-page ad argues investment firm will pay the highest price
Alden Global Capital, the private equity fund that owns the Chicago Tribune and more than 160 other newspapers across the United States, wants to add ...
news |
Washington newspapers saved at last minute, ‘a small miracle’
It took a few weeks but a Christmas miracle is coming true near the Canadian border, in Washington’s Whatcom County. The Northern Light, a weekly ...
Q&A |
Los Angeles’ local news experiment New startup looks to combine old-school and new-school journalism
On Sunday, L.A. Reported launched as the latest startup in the country’s second-largest city. The organization was founded by Scott Woolley, formerly Forbes’ West Coast bureau ...
news |
Pittsburgh’s next steps How the Post-Gazette’s closure could impact the local media landscape
In May, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — founded three years before George Washington became the first president of the United States — will cease operations. The ...
news |
Newspaper family saves Oregon paper
Saving local journalism isn’t always straightforward, as a turnabout in Oregon demonstrates. Two newspapers in Linn County just about failed after they were sold to ...