News inequality refers to the varying presence of quality news, and unequal access to news. Though not a new phenomenon, news inequality will become more salient and more acute in 2020, especially as it relates to the presidential election.
As an increasing number of news ecosystem studies are showing, news deserts — places where there are negligible amounts of real journalism — have become increasingly common. We’ve also seen in the revelation of the insufficiencies in the FCC’s broadband mapping that millions of people in the U.S. are still without quality, reliable internet access.
News inequality matters in the same way that unequal access to education matters: Without trustworthy, reliable local and national journalism, the democratic political system breaks down. Alleviating news inequality will continue to be a priority in 2020 for the many foundations and other organizations working to implement new sustainable business models and grow new journalism organizations for the digital age.
Sarah Stonbely is the research director at the Center for Cooperative Media.
News inequality refers to the varying presence of quality news, and unequal access to news. Though not a new phenomenon, news inequality will become more salient and more acute in 2020, especially as it relates to the presidential election.
As an increasing number of news ecosystem studies are showing, news deserts — places where there are negligible amounts of real journalism — have become increasingly common. We’ve also seen in the revelation of the insufficiencies in the FCC’s broadband mapping that millions of people in the U.S. are still without quality, reliable internet access.
News inequality matters in the same way that unequal access to education matters: Without trustworthy, reliable local and national journalism, the democratic political system breaks down. Alleviating news inequality will continue to be a priority in 2020 for the many foundations and other organizations working to implement new sustainable business models and grow new journalism organizations for the digital age.
Sarah Stonbely is the research director at the Center for Cooperative Media.
Errin Haines Race and gender aren’t a 2020 story — they’re the story
Kathleen Searles Pay more attention to attention
Elizabeth Dunbar Frank talk, and then action
Jeff Kofman Speed through technology
Greg Emerson News apps fall further behind
Julia B. Chan We 👏 take 👏 breaks 👏
Laura E. Davis Know the context your journalism is operating within
M. Scott Havens First-party data becomes media’s most important currency
Rachel Davis Mersey The business of local TV news will enter its downward slide
Nicholas Jackson What’s left of local gets comfortable with reader support
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The business we want, not the business we had
Lucas Graves A smarter conversation about how (and why) fact-checking matters
Kourtney Bitterly Transparency isn’t just a desire, it’s an expectation
Dannagal G. Young Let’s disrupt the logic that’s driving Americans apart
Logan Molyneux and Shannon McGregor Think twice before turning to Twitter
Monica Drake A renewed focus on misinformation
Nathalie Malinarich Betting on loyalty
Talia Stroud The work of reconnecting starts November 4
Barbara Gray Join local libraries on the frontlines of civic engagement
Richard Tofel A constraint of the reader-revenue model emerges
Cristina Kim Public media stops trying to serve “everybody”
Jakob Moll A slow-moving tech backlash among young people
Stefanie Murray Charitable giving goes collaborative
Michael W. Wagner Increasingly fractured, but little bit deliberative
An Xiao Mina The Forum we wanted, the forum we got
Helen Havlak Platforms shine a light on original reporting
Tanya Cordrey Saying no to more good ideas
Meg Marco Everything happens somewhere
Dan Shanoff Sports media enters the Bronny era
Cindy Royal Prepare media students for skills, not job titles
Matt DeRienzo Local broadcasters begin to fill the gaps left by newspapers
Joe Amditis Collaborative journalism takes its rightful place at the table
Knight Foundation Five generations of journalists, learning from each other
Sue Robinson Campaign coverage as test bed for engagement experiments
Jasmine McNealy A call for context
Alexandra Borchardt Get out of the office and talk to people
Felix Salmon Spotify launches a news channel
Alfred Hermida and Mary Lynn Young The promise of nonprofit journalism
Peter Bale Lies get further normalized
Mike Caulfield Native verification tools for the blue checkmark crowd
Seth C. Lewis 20 questions for 2020
Matthew Pressman News consumers divide into haves and have-nots
Eric Nuzum Podcasting finally creates another mega-hit show
Ståle Grut OSINT journalism goes mainstream
Sonali Prasad Climate change storytelling gets multidimensional
Bill Grueskin Our ethics codes get an overhaul
Irving Washington Leadership isn’t something you learn on the job
Mary Walter-Brown and Tristan Loper Power to the people (on your audience team)
Sarah Stonbely More people start caring about news inequality
Jake Shapiro Podcasting gets listener relationship management
Meredith Artley Stronger solidarity among news organizations
Bill Adair A Nobel Prize, a Brad Pitt film, and a Taylor Swift song
Colleen Shalby Journalists become media literacy teachers
Tonya Mosley The neutrality vs. objectivity game ends
Brian Moritz The end of “stick to sports”
Rachel Glickhouse Journalists get left behind in the industry’s decline
Sarah Alvarez I’m ready for post-news
Imaeyen Ibanga Let’s take it slow
Ernie Smith The death of the industry fad
Joanne McNeil A return to blogs (finally? sort of?)
Logan Jaffe You don’t need fancy tools to listen
Rick Berke Incoming fire from both left and right
Zizi Papacharissi A president leads, the press follows, reality fades
John Garrett It’s the best time in a century to start a local news organization
Victor Pickard We reclaim a public good
Beena Raghavendran The year of the local engagement reporter
Fiona Spruill The climate crisis gets the coverage it deserves
Sarah Schmalbach Journalist, quantify thyself
Moreno Cruz Osório In Brazil, collaboration in a time of state attacks
Geneva Overholser Death to bothsidesism
Carrie Brown-Smith Engaged journalism: It’s finally happening
Nushin Rashidian Are platforms a bridge or a lifeline?
Mario García Think small (screen)
Jonas Kaiser Russian bots are just today’s slacktivists
Rachel Schallom The value of push alerts goes beyond open rates
Catalina Albeanu Rebuilding journalism, together
Carl Bialik Journalists will try running the whole shop
Anthony Nadler Clash of Clans: Election Edition
Jim Brady We’ll complain about other people living in bubbles while ignoring our own
Jennifer Brandel A love letter from the year 2073
Madelyn Sanfilippo and Yafit Lev-Aretz News coverage gets geo-fragmented
Craig Newmark Formalizing newsrooms’ battle against disinformation
Steve Henn The dawning audio web
Lauren Duca The rise of the journalistic influencer
Kerri Hoffman Opening closed systems
Nico Gendron Make better products if you want to reach Gen Z
Simon Galperin Journalism becomes more democratic
Margarita Noriega The platforms try to figure out what to do with single-subject newsrooms
Sara K. Baranowski A big year for little newspapers
j. Siguru Wahutu Western journalists, learn from your African peers
Candis Callison Taking a cue from Indigenous journalists on climate change
Joshua P. Darr All that campaign cash will make the media’s problems worse
Kevin D. Grant The free press stands against authoritarians’ attacks on truth
Tom Glaisyer Journalism can emerge newly vibrant and powerful
Linda Solomon Wood Everyone in your organization, moving toward a common goal
Masuma Ahuja Slower, quieter, more measured and thoughtful
Whitney Phillips A time to question core beliefs
Jeremy Olshan All journalism should be service journalism
Kristen Muller The year we operationalize community engagement
Don Day Respect the non-paying audience
Gordon Crovitz Fighting misinformation requires journalism, not secret algorithms
Alice Antheaume Trade “politics” for “power”
Heather Bryant Some kinds of journalism aren’t worth saving
Doris Truong The year of radical salary transparency
S. Mitra Kalita The race to 2021
Mira Lowe The year of student-powered journalism
Emily Withrow The year we kill the news article
Alana Levinson Brand-backed media gets another look
Monique Judge The year to organize, unionize, and fight
Pablo Boczkowski The day after November 4
Mariana Moura Santos The future of journalism is collaborative
Christa Scharfenberg It’s time to make journalism a field that supports and respects women
Jeremy Gilbert and Jarrod Dicker A call for collaboration between storytelling and tech
Cory Haik We’re already consuming the future of news — now we have to produce it
A.J. Bauer A fork in the road for conservative media
Ben Werdmuller Use the tools of journalism to save it
Brenda P. Salinas Treating MP3 files like text
Heidi Tworek The year of positive pushback
Elizabeth Hansen and Jesse Holcomb Local news initiatives run into a capital shortage
Josh Schwartz Publishers move beyond the metered paywall
Annie Rudd The expanded ambiguity of the news photograph
Sarah Marshall The year to learn about news moments
Hossein Derakhshan AI can’t conjure up an Errol Morris
Juleyka Lantigua A changing industry amps up podcasters’ ambitions
Joni Deutsch Podcasting unsilences the silent
John Keefe Journalism gets hacked
Francesco Zaffarano TikTok without generational prejudice
Raney Aronson-Rath News deserts will proliferate — but so will new solutions
