Posts

research | Apr 21, 2026

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.

by Jennifer Kho

While our challenges as an industry are large, so is our capacity for innovation – and for inspiration. Now in its fourth year, the Bright Spots section of Medill’s State of Local News report aims to highlight some of the most promising things happening in local news outlets around the United States. Send us your nominations here. In just a few examples, we checked in on The Post and Courier’s post-pandemic efforts to strengthen local...

Continue Reading

research | Apr 6, 2026

Searching for sustainability New report finds nonprofit news outlets need to develop robust revenue outside philanthropy to succeed long term

by Eric Rynston-Lobel

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 like subscriptions and memberships make up only about a quarter to a third of their total funding. Those are the findings of a report released on Thursday from the Wyncote Foundation, which concludes that philanthropists likely will need to support these outlets for an extended time to preserve their sustainability. That...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 19, 2026

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, an organization that works to equip independent journalists with tools to succeed in the independent creator economy, introduced the News Ecosystem Framework — a visual tool that charts a comprehensive continuum of news industry models. The aim of the framework was to contextualize creator-model journalism as part of a broader and...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 10, 2026

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 in rural areas Many in news deserts don’t think of themselves as being deprived of local news sources In local news deserts in the U.S., residents rely heavily on social media and other non-journalistic sources to stay informed, according to a comprehensive survey by the Medill Local News Initiative at...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 19, 2025

Troubled local news outlets face a new risk: climate change New research identifies the U.S. communities facing the double jeopardy of climate disaster and a lack of news sources.

by Srishti Bose

KCHU, the public radio station in Valdez, Alaska, is used to living on the edge. For two months, its AM transmitter leaned precariously over the Valdez Glacier Stream as seasonal flooding from melting glaciers, called “glacial outburst events,” caused unprecedented erosion on its banks. The transmitter was removed in August to prevent it from imminent collapse, ending KCHU's AM transmission. To make matters worse, in July, KCHU also lost the bulk of its budget when Congress eliminated more than...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 11, 2025

When federal might meets local resistance Chicago is case study in using solutions journalism for rapid response coverage of ICE enforcement nationally

by Deborah D. Douglas

A palpable tension mixed with anticipation filled Chicago-area newsrooms this fall when journalists found themselves suddenly pressed into the service of covering the White House’s immigration enforcement surge. Local journalists worked around the clock to cover community responses to a militarized and sometimes violent presence in neighborhoods in and around the city. Federal immigration policing has escalated across the nation, including cities like Los Angeles, Houston, Memphis and Charlotte, North Carolina. The unprecedented effort continues...

Continue Reading

research | Nov 10, 2025

Baltimore bucks the trend Local outlets are withering across the country – but not in Charm City

by Paul Farhi

The appointment of a new inspector general isn’t typically the sexiest local-news topic, but it may have been the hottest story going this summer in Baltimore County. Amid suggestions of political favoritism and backroom deals, the county executive pushed out the incumbent inspector. Intense media coverage ensued. The Baltimore Sun and its upstart competitor, The Baltimore Banner, published dozens of news stories and editorials. The Baltimore Brew, a scrappy digital news site launched in 2010, scored a few...

Continue Reading

research | Nov 3, 2025

Northwest publishers avoiding consolidation or closure, maintaining independence As independent newspapers shutter across the U.S., a handful of Northwest publishers defy the trend.

by Brier Dudley

Publisher Les Zaitz spent three years trying to save his pride and joy. His Malheur Enterprise weekly newspaper on Oregon’s eastern border had an acclaimed reputation for hard-hitting investigative reporting. To keep it open, Zaitz was willing to make a deal. He even offered to train his successor to smooth the transition. Eventually, his patience ran out. Unable to lure a new owner to rural Malheur County, Zaitz took the excruciating step of closing The...

Continue Reading

research | Oct 27, 2025

Keeping Voices from Vanishing Public radio, long a lifeline, is at risk in Alaska and rural areas around the country

by Liam Scott | liamjscott

In the remote Arctic town of Kotzebue, Alaska, some residents still talk about the Dairy Queen that closed several years ago. They also talk about what’s at risk of closing next: the region’s lone radio station. Since 1973, KOTZ has delivered the news to Kotzebue, population 3,102, and several other small, sparse villages that collectively are home to about the same number of people. Some 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle, KOTZ is the only source of local news for...

Continue Reading

research | Sep 10, 2025

The Medill survey 2025: How the Chicago area gets its news Second annual examination of the public’s interest in and reliance on local news

This text was adapted from the introduction of our report on how Chicago-area residents consume local news. Download a full PDF version of the report. The relationship between the news business and consumers of news is breaking down and reforming at a dizzying pace as digital technology gives audiences new ways to engage with information. Certainly, every journalism era is transformational. Newspaper domination gave way to radio and broadcast television, followed by cable TV with...

Continue Reading

research | Aug 27, 2025

Lack of Local News Tied to Government Secrecy, New Report Says

by John Volk | volk_maps

The loss of local news is linked with increased government secrecy, according to a new study conducted by the Brechner Center for the Advancement of the First Amendment at the University of Florida. The findings lend the first empirical evidence to the connection long intuited between the declining health of local news ecosystems and decreased government transparency. They add to the growing body of research that demonstrates the impact of news deserts on democracy, including...

Continue Reading

research | Apr 9, 2025

Students on the Beat A growing movement of news-academic partnerships aims to fill local coverage gaps

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

The old formula went like this: Journalism undergrads would learn in classes and maybe work on the school paper and then get professional experience via internships or summer jobs at news outlets. But with the local news industry reeling, this dynamic has flipped. Instead of news organizations giving boosts to students, students are supporting often-short-staffed outlets by providing coverage as part of their curricula. This shift is happening as an expanding network of universities step...

Continue Reading

research | Apr 8, 2025

Tell Us Who Should be a Local News Bright Spot We are collecting nominations for Local News ‘Bright Spots’ that will be featured in our 2025 State of Local News Report

by Autumn Brewington

Last year’s State of Local News Report featured a dozen “Bright Spots.” For our second edition of this Local News Initiative project, we highlighted 12 media outlets around the country that are building sustainable models by providing original reporting on their communities while they experiment with news collaborations, digital subscription offers, and other efforts to diversify revenue and engage audiences. In just a few examples, we checked in on the Salt Lake Tribune’s transition from for-profit newspaper to digital-first...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 12, 2024

Haunted By Ghost Papers Can Massachusetts hyperlocal startups reconnect communities to the news–and each other?

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

PLYMOUTH, Mass. – Mark Pothier was wrapping up the young-adult phase of his music career, including a 1983 stint as keyboardist for the then-synthy band Ministry, when he took a $5 an hour job for the Pembroke Reporter, a recently launched community paper along Boston’s South Shore. Pothier rose through the ranks of the umbrella Memorial Press Group (MPG), a chain of suburban newspapers, and in 1986 was named executive editor of the flagship, the...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 5, 2024

In news deserts, Trump won in a landslide But what does this election-result correlation mean?

Donald Trump won the 2024 election with one of the smallest popular-vote margins in U.S. history, but in news deserts – counties lacking a professional source of local news – it was an avalanche. Trump won 91% percent of these counties over his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, according to an analysis of voting data by Medill Journalism School’s State of Local News project. While Trump’s national popular-vote margin was just under 1.5%, his margin in news...

Continue Reading

research | Nov 21, 2024

Sustainable Startups Emerging local news outlets take varied approaches while sharing sense of purpose, need for funding

by Jackie Spinner

Bob Gough has worked in local news nearly his entire life, and he knows this: Everybody wants to see their kid or grandkid in the paper. The trouble is that truly local news in his western Illinois town of Quincy is getting harder to find. Starting this year, radio listeners no longer can catch the Quincy Senior High School football games on Friday nights. The legacy newspaper, the Herald-Whig, has changed hands two times since 2021...

Continue Reading

research | Oct 29, 2024

All the News That’s Missing in Cairo When a paper disappears, what happens to the community, and where do people turn for their news?

by Paul Farhi

During 152 years of publication, the Cairo Citizen covered the Illinois town’s boom years, its long, grinding decline, its near-death from floods, its tumultuous racial history and its high-school championships and homecoming pageants. Launched just after the Civil War as the Cairo Bulletin, it published through the heyday of the steamboat, the railroad and the interstate. It didn’t survive Facebook. When the paper folded in 2020, there wasn’t much in the way of civic mourning....

Continue Reading

research | Aug 29, 2024

Do Homepages Still Matter? With social and search traffic down, news outlets aim to get readers back on their platforms

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

The homepage was the entry point, the digital equivalent of the front page, before social media and search engines became the dominant means for readers to find content. But now that X/Twitter, Facebook and Google are directing less traffic to news sites—all while AI summaries to online queries allow readers to bypass news links altogether—news organizations have rediscovered the value of keeping readers on their own platforms. Or as Local Media Association Chief Innovative Officer...

Continue Reading

research | Aug 6, 2024

Can Local Journalism Find Fatigue Cure? New Medill survey shows U.S. adults already ‘tired’ of election, avoiding news

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

The 2024 presidential election remains months away, yet a new Medill survey shows that as of May almost half of surveyed adults already were sick of hearing about it—a finding that could have significant implications not only for national news organizations but also local ones. The national poll, commissioned by the Medill School at Northwestern University and conducted in May by NORC at the University of Chicago, measured news fatigue and avoidance among American adults....

Continue Reading

research | May 28, 2024

The Medill survey: How the Chicago area gets its news An examination of the public’s interest in and reliance on local news, as well as consumption habits

This text was adapted from the introduction of our report on how Chicago-area residents consume local news. Download a full PDF version of the report. The financial pressures on journalism are plain to see in the digital age as the print newspaper industry shrinks, reporting jobs disappear, and online competitors struggle to develop footholds. A news transformation is underway, with many winners and losers to be determined. More difficult to observe are the changing day-to-day news...

Continue Reading

research | May 8, 2024

Impact of AI on Local News Models AI is disrupting the local news industry: Will it unlock growth or be an existential threat?

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

This text was adapted from the introduction of our report on the impact of AI on local news models. Download a full PDF version of the report. Journalism has experienced its share of revolutions, from Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the movable-type printing press in 15th century Germany to the high-speed presses of the 19th century to the disruptions of radio, network television and cable television as primary sources for live, breaking news. Yet even as...

Continue Reading

research | May 6, 2024

Tell Us What’s Working in Local News The 2024 State of Local News Report seeks new ‘Bright Spots’

by Autumn Brewington

Last year’s State of Local News Report featured a new segment on “Bright  Spots.” It highlighted 17 media outlets across the country that are building sustainable models by providing nuanced coverage while they experiment with news collaborations, digital subscription offers and other efforts to diversify revenue and to engage audiences. We want to share more of these success stories in our 2024 report later this year, so we’re asking for your input. Please tell us about...

Continue Reading

research | Jan 18, 2024

Saving Community Journalism: The Path Ahead

by Penelope Muse Abernathy | businessofnews

A good newspaper is an anchor in a community.  It reminds a community every day of its collective identity, the stake we have in one another, and the lessons of its history. Ron Heifetz, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Two decades ago, few of us envisioned how quickly and decisively the internet would demolish the economic model that had supported local news in this country for almost two centuries. In 2004, newspaper stocks...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 19, 2023

Churning Toward Disaster Subscriber Engagement Index data shows ominous drop in reader retention

by Rick Reger

Having determined that reader regularity is the most important factor in getting people to pay for news, Medill Spiegel Research Center Director Edward Malthouse sees trouble on the local-journalism horizon based on newly collected data. Since 2020, the Subscriber Engagement Index (SEI), a tool built by the Spiegel Research Center at the Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, has measured the health of newspapers by tracking how regularly newspaper subscribers consume news...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 12, 2023

Tipping Point for Public Support? As local reporters vanish and news deserts expand, more leaders from both parties see why America’s founders ‘understood that the press was central to the foundation of a self-governing system’

by Laura Colarusso

When Identidad Latina launched in 2001, it was a free biweekly newspaper with a circulation of about 10,000 that covered Hartford and the surrounding areas for the Spanish-speaking population of Connecticut. But by 2009, it had cut back to 7,000 copies, because, like most local news organizations, its advertising revenue had declined substantially after the Great Recession forced widespread small business closures. To weather COVID-19 and skyrocketing printing costs, Identidad Latina had to downsize again....

Continue Reading

research | Dec 5, 2023

How Local News Fares in the Cities More than half of all newspapers lost since 2005 were located in and around major metro areas. Some of the nation’s largest cities have been able to counter the trend, relying on digital-only news outlets to fill the gap

by Bill Arthur

The nation’s cities and its suburbs are home to 287 million people, more than 85% of our population, representing a myriad of cultures, affiliations, concerns and interests. To get the news they need to navigate city and suburban life, the residents of these urban areas can turn to a variety of local media outlets: television as well as print and digital media. Yet their options in many inner city neighborhoods and bedroom communities are shrinking....

Continue Reading

research | Dec 5, 2023

Rural Mirages: Shattered papers and ‘ghosts’ without local news Hundreds of weeklies have been shuttered, and many of the survivors have become ‘ghost papers’ with no staff reporters. But in some small and mid-sized communities, promising new business models are emerging.

by Al Cross

The Hutchinson News in central Kansas greeted its subscribers Sept. 5 with a front-page feature about the Hutchinson Senior Center that included a big photo of seniors kayaking – on a lake with a thickly forested shore. That’s not the landscape of Hutchinson, some 50 miles northwest of Wichita. And that’s not the name of its senior center. The “local” centerpiece instead told baffled readers all about activities offered by the senior center in Hutchinson,...

Continue Reading

research | Sep 6, 2023

Teens Tuning In New Medill survey shows higher-than-expected news engagement among young people

by Rick Reger

An oft-cited factor in the continued struggles of traditional news outlets has been the sense that young people are disengaged from the news. But the News Socialization Study, a new survey commissioned by the Medill School at Northwestern University, reveals that teenagers may be keeping up with current events more than previously thought. “The survey found more engagement with news among teens than we were expecting,” says Stephanie Edgerly, professor and Associate Dean for Research...

Continue Reading

research | Jun 6, 2023

Is Local News Failing To Hold Public Officials Accountable? Medill poll shows reader distrust as they get daily news from TV, social media, not newspapers

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

Fewer than one third of Americans believe that local news media hold public officials accountable, a finding that calls into question whether local journalism is fulfilling  one of its primary missions, according to national poll commissioned by the Medill School at Northwestern University The survey, conducted on behalf of Medill by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, collected responses from more than 1,000 Americans about their consumption of and attitudes...

Continue Reading

research | Jun 6, 2023

How the Medill Local News Poll was conducted

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

The survey of 1,015 US adults was fielded by NORC’s AmeriSpeak® Omnibus panel from April 27 to May 1, 2023. The local news survey questions were developed by Medill undergraduate students in the class “J390 Collecting and Analyzing Audience Data.” The margin of sampling error based on the full, weighted sample is +/- 3.78%. The response rate (AAPOR3) is 2.4%, and the design effect is 1.51%. AmeriSpeak® is a probability-based panel designed to be representative...

Continue Reading

research | May 4, 2023

Are news outlets using the wrong metrics to assess sites’ success? Data shows reader habits, not page views or time spent, may be key to subscriber retention

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

News organizations seeking to measure their websites’ success typically have focused on two metrics: page views and time spent on the site. But data collected and analyzed from the Medill Subscriber Engagement Index indicates that such an approach is misguided. The data, collected from 106 outlets in various-sized markets, shows that the most important factor in trying to get people to pay for news is reader regularity. What’s more, increases in page views and time...

Continue Reading

research | Mar 28, 2023

As ‘pink slime’ aims to fill local news vacuum, is anyone reading? A Stanford study finds little consumption of politically driven, faux local-news sites

by Mark Caro | LocalNewsIni

It sounds like an alarming equation: While local news outlets shutter and news deserts expand nationwide, so-called “pink slime” sites are filling the void with political propaganda disguised as legitimate news. For anyone who believes democracy is built on a foundation of truth, this is a disturbing trend. But most of the attention on pink-slime journalism has focused on its production, such as the “1,300 community news sites” that Metric Media, Chicago businessman Brian Timpone’s company...

Continue Reading

research | Nov 21, 2022

Subscriptions Still on the Rise at Most Newspapers in the Medill Subscriber Engagement Index

by Susan Chandler

One ray of good news during the Covid pandemic: More U.S. consumers read and subscribed to local news publications. But industry experts feared that rising tide might ebb in 2022 as people headed back to work and inflation began to crimp household budgets. Indeed, there have been signs that readership was falling off. In September, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies reported that pageviews and unique visitors have fallen about 20 percent at local newspaper sites in...

Continue Reading

research | Sep 21, 2022

Gannett Positions for the Future by Cutting Today

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

Earlier this month, Gannett’s Michael Reed had an opportunity to set a new course for the nation’s biggest newspaper company after disappointing financial results in August. Instead, he doubled down. Reed doubled down on cost-cutting, promising to cut $200 million to $240 million from “declining parts” of the business – primarily print. He doubled down on paying off debt, which tops $1.34 billion. Most of all, he doubled down on boosting digital subscriptions, while also...

Continue Reading

research | Jul 11, 2022

Medill Subscriber Engagement Index Expands to More than 100 Publications Redesign Better Highlights Key Metrics

by Susan Chandler

Launched last year to help local newspapers retain their subscribers and attract new ones, the Medill Subscriber Engagement Index has grown to include more than 100 news organizations that are funneling their reader data to the project. The list runs the gamut from small to large media organizations and includes regional powerhouses such as the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Dallas Morning News, the Seattle Times, the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times....

Continue Reading

research | May 26, 2022

Reading Frequency Outweighs Page Views and Intensity: Medill Analysis Business Weekly Data Show Value of Regular Readers

by Susan Chandler

How should a weekly business magazine determine the long-term value of its subscribers: by how many stories they read or the number of times they visit the website? Contrary to the usual preoccupation with page views, it turns out that frequent readers are more valuable than those who only stop by occasionally and read a lot, according to a recent analysis of reader data from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. For...

Continue Reading

research | Apr 19, 2022

Medill Survey Shows Difficulty of Getting Some Local News Consumers to Pay Survey Finds Even Engaged Audience Can Be Reluctant

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

The diverse neighborhoods of Chicago’s South and West sides make a lot of news, and a survey of their residents has found intense interest in coverage of crime and other top issues – as long as it’s free. Of the 820 people who completed the new online survey from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, 647 said they don’t pay anything for access to local news and 583 said no one should...

Continue Reading

research | Apr 19, 2022

How Medill Surveyed News Consumers in Chicago

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

The survey of news consumers on the South and West sides of Chicago, conducted online from Oct. 15 to Dec. 28, 2021, measured the opinions of 820 adults who completed a questionnaire they received by email. Qualtrics, a national market research company, conducted the survey on behalf of the Medill Metro Media Lab at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Project Manager Sam Cholke oversaw the survey. Providing logistical support was...

Continue Reading

research | Mar 29, 2022

Small, Local Newsrooms Slow to Adopt Artificial Intelligence, AP study shows

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

Small newsrooms have fallen behind larger ones in adopting Artificial Intelligence, and the technology is under-used at the local level mainly because of time and resource constraints, a new report shows. Interest is high in automation that could free journalists from routine tasks, streamline production and make better use of content, but the latitude to experiment is limited, and local news providers could benefit from additional training, according to the Associated Press study, which is...

Continue Reading

research | Mar 3, 2022

Want to Retain Subscribers? Take the Wire Medill Subscriber Engagement Index Finds Gold in Syndicated Content

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

When newspaper editors decide to “take the wire” instead of assigning staff to report a story, some consider it a compromise that could discourage regular readers. Turns out, readers don’t mind at all. A first-of-its-kind analysis using data from Northwestern University’s Medill Subscriber Engagement Index reveals that wire-service and syndicated content can help to develop reading habits and retain subscribers among light and very light readers. Even for the most ardent, heavier readers, wire content...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 9, 2022

Journalists Give Thumbs Down to Social Media Medill Survey Details Negative Impact of Social Platforms

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

Journalists say social-media platforms have hurt their industry, contributing to inaccurate and one-sided news accounts by exerting too much control over the mix of news that people see, according to a recent survey. More than nine of every 10 survey respondents said social-media companies deliver a “worse mix of news” to their users, according to the online survey of journalists by Northwestern University’s Medill school of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. The survey also found...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 1, 2022

Medill Survey Respondents Say Their News Organizations Are Making Diversity Efforts Changes Coincide with Social Justice Protests in 2020

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

More than a year after social-justice protests called attention to the lack of diversity in newsrooms, journalists report notable changes at their media organizations, including new training programs, hiring procedures and policies related to language used about communities of color, a survey shows. Nearly four of every five survey respondents said the new efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have positively affected the journalism industry, according to the survey by Northwestern University’s Medill...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 1, 2022

Journalists Feeling Pressure from Pandemic Medill survey finds Covid-19 taking a mental toll

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

Two years after Covid-19 disrupted life and work across the globe, journalists say they’re struggling to cope with the pandemic’s psychological and emotional pressures, a new survey shows. Nearly four of every five journalists said dealing with the mental toll has been either “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult,” according to the survey by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Nearly seven in 10 said they were still mostly working remotely at...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 1, 2022

How Medill Conducted the Media Industry Survey

by Greg Burns | LocalNewsIni

The Medill Media Industry Survey, conducted online from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31, 2021, measured the opinions of 1,543 people in the U.S. news business who completed the questionnaire. The survey was conducted by Associate Professor Stephanie Edgerly of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Edgerly collaborated with Danielle K. Brown, the Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality in the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of...

Continue Reading

research | Jan 27, 2022

Google Gives Boost to Medill’s Subscriber Index as More News Outlets Prepare to Join

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Northwestern University’s Medill Subscriber Engagement Index, a groundbreaking tool to help newsrooms track their digital subscribers, has received a major boost from the Google News Initiative: a partnership that includes expertise and $500,000 in financial backing to support the index’s operation for at least the next two years. The index, launched late last year, tells participating news outlets which aspects of their content are correlated with retention of digital-only subscribers. The index also tracks the...

Continue Reading

research | Nov 15, 2021

Medill’s New Index Puts Spotlight on Rescuing At-Risk Subscribers

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Northwestern University’s new Medill Subscriber Engagement Index highlights the need to identify at-risk digital subscribers and find effective ways to reach out to them, from friendly emails to targeted social media to onboarding them better in the first place. The key to retention is to keep subscribers coming to the website regularly, as shown in past Medill School research. But Medill’s new index goes further into the issue by tracking the level of a newsroom’s...

Continue Reading

research | Oct 27, 2021

Medill Launches Groundbreaking Subscriber Engagement Tool 44 Local News Outlets Across U.S. Participating, With Many More Expected in Coming Months

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Northwestern University has launched the Medill Subscriber Engagement Index, a tool that allows local news organizations to see what content encourages subscribers to stick around and lets publishers benchmark their performance against outlets in comparable markets. Forty-four newsrooms of various sizes across the country are now participating in Medill’s index, and about 100 outlets are expected to be on board by early next year. Participants include large metro news organizations such as the Chicago Tribune...

Continue Reading

research | Mar 1, 2021

Nearly Half of Digital Subscribers Are ‘Zombies,’ Medill Analysis Finds

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Nearly half of local news outlets’ digital subscribers are “zombie” readers who visit the website less than once a month, according to a data analysis in 45 markets by Northwestern University’s Medill Spiegel Research Center. Spiegel found that 49% of digital subscribers didn’t go to the websites they had paid for even once a month, putting them in a category known in news-industry slang as “zombies.” Concern is growing about this problem because even though...

Continue Reading

research | Jan 25, 2021

Medill Survey Finds News Media’s Money Worries Overwhelming, but Few See Ads as Best Answer

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

The financial distress threatening the future of the local news industry is now a pervasive concern of those working in the media business, and few of them see advertising revenue as the best path forward, according to a new survey by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. The first-ever Medill Media Industry Survey of nearly 1,400 members of the U.S. news media was conducted by Associate Professor Stephanie Edgerly of the...

Continue Reading

research | Jan 15, 2021

How the Medill Media Industry Survey Was Conducted

The Medill Media Industry Survey, conducted online from Nov. 30 to Dec. 28, 2020, measured the opinions of 1,387 people in the U.S. news business. The survey was run by Associate Professor Stephanie Edgerly of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Providing logistical support was Medill Senior Associate Dean Tim Franklin, who is the John M. Mutz Chair in Local News and leads the Medill Local News Initiative. Medill used Cision,...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 17, 2020

‘News Deserts’ Expert Penny Abernathy Joins Medill as Visiting Professor

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Penny Abernathy, whose groundbreaking research has shown the growth of the nation’s “news deserts,” will become a visiting professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Abernathy will start next month in the position after retiring as Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media for the last 12 years. Cindy Burnham Penny Abernathy Medill Dean Charles Whitaker announced...

Continue Reading

research | Oct 19, 2020

How Is Boise Like a Suburb of Nashville When It Comes to News? Professors Call for Deeper Thinking About Media Markets and Innovation

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

In a project launched at Northwestern University, researchers are working on sophisticated ways to identify news media markets that are similar to each other. The thinking: If news publishers understand which markets are like theirs, they might find success with innovations that worked in those similar markets. The Medill Local News Initiative’s Mark Jacob interviewed two of the researchers: Medill Associate Professor Stephanie Edgerly and Rachel Davis Mersey, a former Medill Professor and Associate Dean...

Continue Reading

research | Sep 2, 2020

Medill’s New Subscriber Index Will Help Local News Outlets Tie Readers to Revenue Index Includes a ‘What-If’ Tool Using Current Data to Predict Outcomes of Strategic Decisions

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Northwestern University researchers have completed their prototype of a Medill Subscriber Engagement Index for digital news and expect to launch the innovative tool by the end of this year. The index will show local news executives which aspects of their online content are helping them acquire and keep subscribers and which content is causing “churn” – people dropping their subscriptions. It also will highlight best practices and will allow executives to compare their newsrooms with...

Continue Reading

research | Apr 27, 2020

Television Is Top News Source During Pandemic, Illinois Poll Finds

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

During the pandemic, Illinois residents have gotten their news most often from local and national television rather than from newspapers or radio, according to a poll commissioned by Northwestern University. The poll also showed that when Illinoisans want local information about COVID-19, news outlets in their area are the primary way they get it, rather than social media, government websites or politicians. The polling on COVID-19, conducted March 30 to April 17 with 1,845 respondents...

Continue Reading

research | Mar 30, 2020

Medill Study Finds Preference for Female Voices and Local Accents

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

With podcasts and smart speakers on the rise, Northwestern professor Candy Lee wondered how consumer preferences in voices and accents might affect the news business. Do people prefer a man’s voice to a woman’s? Would they rather hear a local accent or an “NPR” accent? Lee, a professor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, launched a research project to explore the issue. Among the findings: Female news readers...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 19, 2019

Readers With Ad Blockers More Likely to Keep Subscriptions, Medill Study Finds Research on ‘Advertising Disengagement’ Suggests News Websites May Need to Change Ad Strategy to Keep Readers Paying

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

An analysis of subscriber behavior data by Northwestern University’s Spiegel Research Center has found that a news organization’s customers who use an ad blocker are more likely to keep their subscriptions. The new study, while limited in scope, raises important questions about whether news outlets are turning off some of their best customers with intrusive advertising, and whether their bottom line might be better served by curtailing or customizing those ads. Spiegel Executive Director Tom...

Continue Reading

research | Sep 9, 2019

Focusing: Why the Chicago Defender Went Digital-Only

The Chicago Defender, a highly influential black newspaper founded in 1905, announced in July 2019 that it would go online-only because of dwindling print circulation. The Defender was a key driver of the Great Migration, telling Southern blacks about opportunities in the North. It was also strong on such stories as the murder of Emmett Till and the election of Harold Washington as Chicago’s first African American mayor. While there is robust journalism taking place in...

Continue Reading

research | Sep 9, 2019

Diversifying: How a Newspaper Publisher Branched Out

Penny Muse Abernathy, a professor and the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina, has done groundbreaking work both documenting the rise of “news deserts” and developing sustainable business models for local news organizations. She shared a noteworthy example of diversification in her interview with the Medill Local News Initiative’s News Leaders Project. Here’s that account: With newspaper print advertising at historic lows, publishers of local newspapers, regardless of...

Continue Reading

research | Aug 22, 2019

Medill’s Small-Markets Study Reinforces Importance of Creating Reader Habit

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

A Northwestern University data analysis last year on three big-city news outlets showed that a regular reader habit and strong coverage of local news were the key factors for keeping subscribers. But a question remained: Was that true only for major metros, or for local news organizations in general? Now Northwestern’s Medill Local News Initiative has found part of the answer from a follow-up study on 12 small news outlets. Indeed, the results of both...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 5, 2019

Medill Study Identifies ‘Paradigm Shift’ in How Local News Serves Readers Building Habit—Not Page Views—Matters Most For Keeping Subscribers, Data Analysis Finds

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

As online advertising lags, many local news organizations are shifting their strategy to focus on reader-based revenue models, especially digital subscriptions, as a path to financial sustainability and greater community service. That pivot is redefining the goals for many news outlets. Rather than chasing viral “clicks” to boost ad revenue, they are trying to establish their value to subscribers. New strategies require new insights into local digital audiences. That’s why a major new Northwestern University...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 5, 2019

Medill’s Subscriber Data Analysis: How We Reached Conclusions

The Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern University analyzed 13 terabytes of data from the Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle and Indianapolis Star for its study, which was conducted in the fall of 2018 as part of the Medill Local News Initiative. Data scientists at Spiegel integrated audience data and subscriber information from each of the three news organizations. This allowed researchers to trace anonymized, individual behaviors of people who kept and cancelled digital subscriptions. This cross-platform data integration...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 5, 2019

3 Takeaways on Medill’s Subscriber Data Analysis

As local news outlets find their advertising model faltering, earning revenue from readers has emerged as a more promising path to sustainability. That’s why a Northwestern University study takes a new approach: Instead of focusing on the page-view metrics common in an ad-based model, this research tracks what keeps subscribers paying. The study, part of the Medill Local News Initiative at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, has crunched 13 terabytes of...

Continue Reading

research | Feb 5, 2019

A  Paradox Emerges: Why Aren’t Avid Readers More Likely to Keep Subscriptions?

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

When Northwestern University researchers analyzed subscriber data from three major metro news outlets, they identified coverage areas and reader behaviors that correlated with customers keeping their subscriptions. Two key ones were a regular reading habit and consumption of unique local content. But two other behaviors jumped out because they showed no correlation with subscriber retention. In a possible paradox, people who read many stories and read them for longer were no more likely to keep...

Continue Reading

research | Dec 4, 2018

3 Leading News Organizations Serve as ‘Learning Labs’ for Local News Initiative Projects Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle and Indianapolis Star aim for insights and digital subscribers

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Three leading U.S. news organizations are serving as “learning labs” for Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative, a project to harness data and other research tools to find ways to make local journalism sustainable. The three outlets – the Chicago Tribune, Indianapolis Star and San Francisco Chronicle – have submitted terabytes of anonymous online reader data to Northwestern’s Spiegel Digital and Database Research Center for analysis. A key goal: to correlate reader behavior with what the...

Continue Reading

research | Nov 30, 2018

Research Suggests ‘Local’ News is more Fluid than Fixed in Place

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Research by a San Diego State University professor is challenging our definitions of what local news is, and could have an impact on the ways journalists tailor their product to their audiences in the future. News organizations today need to move beyond their antiquated definitions of location and dive deeper into the nuances of geographic spaces in this digital and mobile media era, wrote associate professor Amy Schmitz Weiss in a new journal article featured...

Continue Reading