This text was adapted from our report on Chicago’s Local Media Consumers. Download a full PDF version of the report.
Beginning in December 2025, 38 newsrooms across the Chicago area came together to gather bespoke insights from the vast audiences they reach. Over the course of five months, Press Forward Chicago sponsored research as part of a collaboration with the Northwestern University Local News Accelerator (LNA) at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and this group of more than three dozen organizations distributed audience surveys to better understand who engages with their content.
Organizations distributed the surveys through newsletters, websites and social media posts, videos, podcasts and more. Overall, the 38 organizations combined gathered 6,116 valid responses.
“Demographics info was the No. 1 need listed from media outlets in our 2025 shared services survey,” said Press Forward Chicago Executive Director Tracy Baim. “We learned so much from doing this first survey with more than three dozen local outlets. This information is critical for the media to know about their audience.”
“Audience preferences and habits have never changed at a faster rate than they are right now. That’s what makes this data so timely, relevant and actionable,” added Mackenzie Warren, interim executive director of Medill’s Local News Initiative. “These insights will allow each news organization to differentiate and tailor their content offerings even more precisely, and thereby fulfill their missions more deeply.”
What the news organizations learned
Audience research delivered new and detailed analysis for participating organizations.
The goal of these surveys was to help the clients capture a snapshot of who their work reaches to help inform future business decisions and content strategies.
“No matter how well you think you know your audience, concrete data is a vital complement to gut instincts,” said Lizzie Schiffman Tufano, vice president of revenue at Block Club Chicago. “Identifying the areas where our expectations align with reality is important, and data that challenges our understanding of our readership is crucial. Our audience is dynamic, and our strategies to reach them must be, too.”
Participating newsrooms spanned from more robust organizations with large teams to smaller outlets that have developed strong connections with the communities they serve.
“As a hyperlocal news outlet, Chinatown Spotlight gained crucial insight into our audience through our audience research project with Northwestern’s Medill Local News Accelerator,” said Sarah Tang, the director of programs with the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community which runs Chinatown Spotlight. “With a small team focused on bringing fact-based, in-language news to Chinatown residents and Chinese readers, understanding our audience’s consumption behavior and desires helped us focus our strategies and priorities.”
Added Jake Wittich, managing editor of Windy City Times, a Chicago-based LGBTQ+ newsroom: “The audience research gave Windy City Times concrete data on what our readers value. It let us know what we’re doing right — and just as importantly — where we’re falling short. We identified coverage gaps, like a desire for more stories on income inequality and affordable housing. We’re now thinking about how to report on those issues through a local LGBTQ+ lens. … In a small newsroom like Windy City Times, every decision about what we cover matters. This audience research gave us clarity to prioritize stories that will have the most impact for our readers.”
Key Findings
While respondents to these surveys were overwhelmingly white, older, female and college or graduate degree recipients — demographics that don’t necessarily mirror those of Chicago more broadly — there were still key data points to take away.
Among them:
- High civic engagement: Respondents are highly engaged civically — 64% have voted in an election after engaging with local media; 62% have had conversations about local issues.
- Supporters of local media: More than two-thirds of respondents already give money to local media — 69% said they already either donate or subscribe to a local news organization, and those who currently do so are significantly more likely to believe they can depend on local news to cover events and that local news will provide clear coverage of local public officials.
- Community connection: The vast majority of respondents turn to local news to be better citizens — 88% said they use local news to stay informed to be a better citizen, while 82% said they use local news to feel connected to their community.
As it relates to demographics, this project served as an indicator that in order to reach a more diverse group of audience members, news organizations will need to experiment with different tactics beyond newsletter and digital distribution.
Chinatown Spotlight, for example, found success reaching some audience members at in-person events they held.
As such, more work needs to be conducted to gather data that better captures the different perspectives of audience members who consume local news across the Chicago area.
For the full report, click here.
