In 2020, there was no doubt that local news is a civic necessity — and no doubt that it faces an existential threat. The good news: Visits to local news sites increased 89 percent from February to March 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic surged. The overwhelming bad news: Advertising revenue declined sharply, and many newspapers, such as the Waterbury (Vt.) Record, Daily Clintonian (Ind.), and Eden Prairie (Minn.) News, closed for good.
As hedge funds continue to gobble up floundering papers and newsrooms disappear, local newspapers are unable to meet the coronavirus-fueled demand for information.
We’re beginning to learn how important local news is during a pandemic. For example, early in the pandemic, rural residents served by a big-city news market heard more news about Covid-19 and were likelier to social distance than residents of less-effected markets. Local newspapers also protect Americans against the polarizing influence of national news, and high polarization politicizes attitudes toward the government’s response to the pandemic.
The crisis in local news is making it harder for the government to help Americans when they need it the most, and legislatures are beginning to take notice. Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz introduced a bill in the United States Senate calling for the establishment of a Future of Local News Commission, exploring “policies and mechanisms that could reinvigorate local news to meet the critical information needs” of Americans. Some states are taking matters into their own hands; for example, the Massachusetts legislature is considering a commission to study journalism in underserved communities.
In 2021, more states will convene these kinds of commissions, as Covid-19 continues to lay bare the promise and peril of local news in communities across the nation. Local newspapers help form and maintain community identity, which can lessen the impact of partisan identity on behavior. At a time when individuals’ decisions are so closely linked to the health of the community, local reporters are essential workers.
If more governments take up the call to organize experts, editors, reporters, and philanthropists to address these issues, local news stands a better chance of adapting to modern circumstances and continuing to deliver the civic and health benefits it can uniquely provide.
Joshua P. Darr is an assistant professor of political communication at Louisiana State University.
In 2020, there was no doubt that local news is a civic necessity — and no doubt that it faces an existential threat. The good news: Visits to local news sites increased 89 percent from February to March 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic surged. The overwhelming bad news: Advertising revenue declined sharply, and many newspapers, such as the Waterbury (Vt.) Record, Daily Clintonian (Ind.), and Eden Prairie (Minn.) News, closed for good.
As hedge funds continue to gobble up floundering papers and newsrooms disappear, local newspapers are unable to meet the coronavirus-fueled demand for information.
We’re beginning to learn how important local news is during a pandemic. For example, early in the pandemic, rural residents served by a big-city news market heard more news about Covid-19 and were likelier to social distance than residents of less-effected markets. Local newspapers also protect Americans against the polarizing influence of national news, and high polarization politicizes attitudes toward the government’s response to the pandemic.
The crisis in local news is making it harder for the government to help Americans when they need it the most, and legislatures are beginning to take notice. Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz introduced a bill in the United States Senate calling for the establishment of a Future of Local News Commission, exploring “policies and mechanisms that could reinvigorate local news to meet the critical information needs” of Americans. Some states are taking matters into their own hands; for example, the Massachusetts legislature is considering a commission to study journalism in underserved communities.
In 2021, more states will convene these kinds of commissions, as Covid-19 continues to lay bare the promise and peril of local news in communities across the nation. Local newspapers help form and maintain community identity, which can lessen the impact of partisan identity on behavior. At a time when individuals’ decisions are so closely linked to the health of the community, local reporters are essential workers.
If more governments take up the call to organize experts, editors, reporters, and philanthropists to address these issues, local news stands a better chance of adapting to modern circumstances and continuing to deliver the civic and health benefits it can uniquely provide.
Joshua P. Darr is an assistant professor of political communication at Louisiana State University.
Francesca Tripodi Don’t expect breaking up Google and Facebook to solve our information woes
Bo Hee Kim Newsrooms create an intentional and collaborative culture
Jonas Kaiser Toward a wehrhafte journalism
Hadjar Benmiloud Get representative, or die trying
John Davidow Reflect and repent
Delia Cai Subscriptions start working for the middle
Rachel Schallom The rise of nonprofit journalism continues
Anthony Nadler Journalism struggles to find a new model of legitimacy
Annie Rudd Newsrooms grow less comfortable with the “view from above”
Shaydanay Urbani and Nancy Watzman Local collaboration is key to slowing misinformation
Janet Haven and Sam Hinds Is this an AI newsroom?
Sue Cross A global consensus around the kind of news we need to save
Andrew Donohue The rise of the democracy beat
Zizi Papacharissi The year we rebuild the infrastructure of truth
Rachel Glickhouse Journalists will be kinder to each other — and to themselves
Garance Franke-Ruta Rebundling content, rebuilding connections
Tanya Cordrey Declining trust forces publishers to claim (or disclaim) values
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes A shift from conversation to action
Charo Henríquez A new path to leadership
Jer Thorp Fewer pixels, more cardboard
Chase Davis The year we look beyond The Story
Juleyka Lantigua-Williams The download, podcasting’s metric king, gets dethroned
Rick Berke Virtual events are here to stay
Cindy Royal J-school grads maintain their optimism and adaptability
Amara Aguilar Journalism schools emphasize listening
Colleen Shalby The definition of good journalism shifts
Jessica Clark News becomes plural
Ashton Lattimore Remote work helps level the playing field in an insular industry
Cory Bergman The year after a thousand earthquakes
Kerri Hoffman Protecting podcasting’s open ecosystem
Nonny de la Pena News reaches the third dimension
Robert Hernandez Data and shame
Nicholas Jackson Blogging is back, but better
Rodney Gibbs Zooming beyond talking heads
Gonzalo del Peon Collaborations expand from newsrooms to the business side
Errin Haines Let’s normalize women’s leadership
Pia Frey Building growth through tastemakers and their communities
Francesco Zaffarano The year we ask the audience what it needs
M. Scott Havens Traditional pay TV will embrace the disruption
Mariano Blejman It’s time to challenge autocompleted journalism
Jennifer Choi What have we done for you lately?
Matt Skibinski Misinformation won’t stop unless we stop it
Loretta Chao Open up the profession
Mark Stenberg The rise of the journalist-influencer
An Xiao Mina 2020 isn’t a black swan — it’s a yellow canary
Aaron Foley Diversity gains haven’t shown up in local news
Parker Molloy The press will risk elevating a Shadow President Trump
Nikki Usher Don’t expect an antitrust dividend for the media
Nisha Chittal The year we stop pivoting
Masuma Ahuja We’ll remember how interconnected our world is
Julia B. Chan and Kim Bui Millennials are ready to run things
Jesse Holcomb Genre erosion in nonprofit journalism
Linda Solomon Wood Canada steps up for journalism
John Ketchum More journalists of color become newsroom founders
Alfred Hermida and Oscar Westlund The virus ups data journalism’s game
Christoph Mergerson Black Americans will demand more from journalism
Mike Caulfield 2021’s misinformation will look a lot like 2020’s (and 2019’s, and…)
David Chavern Local video finally gets momentum
Don Day Business first, journalism second
Anna Nirmala Local news orgs grasp the urgency of community roots
Doris Truong Indigenous issues get long-overdue mainstream coverage
Sarah Marshall The year audiences need extra cheer
Stefanie Murray and Anthony Advincula Expect to see more translations and non-English content
Joshua Darr Legislatures will tackle the local news crisis
Zainab Khan From understanding to feeling
Gabe Schneider Another year of empty promises on diversity
Beena Raghavendran Journalism gets fused with art
Jacqué Palmer The rise of the plain-text email newsletter
Victor Pickard The commercial era for local journalism is over
Laura E. Davis The focus turns to newsroom leaders for lasting change
Alicia Bell and Simon Galperin Media reparations now
David Skok A pandemic-prompted wave of consolidation
Danielle C. Belton A decimated media rededicates itself to truth
Marie Shanahan Journalism schools stop perpetuating the status quo
Eric Nuzum Podcasting dodged a bullet in 2020, but 2021 will be harder
Mike Ananny Toward better tech journalism
Jim Friedlich A newspaper renaissance reached by stopping the presses
Raney Aronson-Rath To get past information divides, we need to understand them first
Steve Henn Has independent podcasting peaked?
Meredith D. Clark The year journalism starts paying reparations
Moreno Cruz Osório In Brazil, a push for pluralism
Brandy Zadrozny Misinformation fatigue sets in
Tim Carmody Spotify will make big waves in video
Nico Gendron Ask your readers to help build your products
Astead W. Herndon The Trump-sized window of the media caring about race closes again
Kate Myers My son will join every Zoom call in our industry
Edward Roussel Tech companies get aggressive in local
Taylor Lorenz Journalists will learn influencing isn’t easy
Matt DeRienzo Citizen truth brigades steer us back toward reality
Nabiha Syed Newsrooms quit their toxic relationships
Burt Herman Journalists build post-Facebook digital communities
Julia Angwin Show your (computational) work
Jeremy Gilbert Human-centered journalism
Sumi Aggarwal News literacy programs aren’t child’s play
james Wahutu Journalists still wrongly think the U.S. is different
L. Gordon Crovitz Common law will finally apply to the Internet
Benjamin Toff Beltway reporting gets normal again, for better and for worse
Chicas Poderosas More voices mean better information
Joni Deutsch Local arts and music make journalism more joyous
Ryan Kellett The bundle gets bundled
Marissa Evans Putting community trauma into context
Patrick Butler Covid-19 reporting has prepared us for cross-border collaboration
Samantha Ragland The year of journalists taking initiative
Sarah Stonbely Videoconferencing brings more geographic diversity
Kristen Muller Engaged journalism scales
Joanne McNeil Newsrooms push back against Ivy League cronyism
Brian Moritz The year sports journalism changes for good
Heidi Tworek A year of news mocktails
Tonya Mosley True equity means ownership
Kevin D. Grant Parachute journalism goes away for good
Celeste Headlee The rise of radical newsroom transparency
Tamar Charney Public radio has a midlife crisis
Candis Callison Calling it a crisis isn’t enough (if it ever was)
Pablo Boczkowski Audiences have revolted. Will newsrooms adapt?
Bill Adair The future of fact-checking is all about structured data
John Garrett A surprisingly good year
Alyssa Zeisler Holistic medicine for journalism
Ben Werdmuller The web blooms again
Whitney Phillips Facts are an insufficient response to falsehoods
A.J. Bauer The year of MAGAcal thinking
Rishad Patel From direct-to-consumer to direct-to-believers
Talmon Joseph Smith The media rejects deficit hawkery
Ariel Zirulnick Local newsrooms question their paywalls
Marcus Mabry News orgs adapt to a post-Trump world (with Trump still in it)
Kawandeep Virdee Goodbye, doomscroll
Mark S. Luckie Newsrooms and streaming services get cozy
Ståle Grut Network analysis enters the journalism toolbox
Renée Kaplan Falling in love with your subscription
Cherian George Enter the lamb warriors
Hossein Derakhshan Mass personalization of truth
Logan Jaffe History as a reporting tool
Mandy Jenkins You build trust by helping your readers
Ben Collins We need to learn how to talk to (and about) accidental conspiracists
Jennifer Brandel A sneak peak at power mapping, 2073’s top innovation
Sonali Prasad Making disaster journalism that cuts through the noise
Jody Brannon People won’t renew
Megan McCarthy Readers embrace a low-information diet
John Saroff Covid sparks the growth of independent local news sites
Sara M. Watson Return of the RSS reader
Ariane Bernard Going solo is still only a path for the few
Tauhid Chappell and Mike Rispoli Defund the crime beat
José Zamora Walking the talk on diversity
Michael W. Wagner Fractured democracy, fractured journalism
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Stop pretending publishers are a united front
Catalina Albeanu Publish less, listen more
Sam Ford We’ll find better ways to archive our work
C.W. Anderson Journalism changed under Trump — will it keep changing under Biden?
María Sánchez Díez Traffic will plummet — and it’ll be ok
Imaeyen Ibanga Journalism gets unmasked
Ernie Smith Entrepreneurship on rails
Ray Soto The news gets spatial
Richard J. Tofel Less on politics, more on how government works (or doesn’t)