Local News & Information

A working-class-focused media could be supported by the dozens of media-oriented philanthropies and local news initiatives funded by taxpayers, like the recent ones in New Jersey and California, as well as independent media cooperatives—people pooling resources to create real alternatives to corporate media. As Pickard has written, public funding... See more

Asynchronous forms of engagement can be synchronized with regular weekly or daily reports provided by the platform that serve something of the function that “talk of the town” columns in local newspapers used to provide.

Local journalism shouldn’t just close gaps. It should help residents understand how to show up better at public meetings. When people know the backstory, civic participation closes the loop.

Audience growth, however, has rarely been romantic.

“We’ve gotten really good at Meta lead ads,” Heafy said. “We can acquire subscribers for under a dollar.”

Despite Facebook’s declining cultural cachet, Heafy remains blunt about its effectiveness. The company uses paid acquisition as a baseline, comparing every other growth tactic against it.

Greater exposure to higher-quality local news leads to more political participation (Shaker, 2014), reduced polarization (Darr, Hitt and Dunaway, 2021, 2018; Moskowitz, 2021), less corporate malfeasance (Heese, Pérez-Cavazos and Peter, 2022), healthier municipal finances (Gao, Lee and Murphy, 2020), and increased political competition (Rubado and... See more

In 2019, 21% of Americans had ever met a local reporter, down from 26% in 2016. That’s not surprising given that the number of reporters per 100,000 has dropped a staggering 62% since 2004. That will lead to local news being less trusted.

UW Madison professor of journalism, Sue Robinson, recently publishedHow Journalists Engage: A Theory of Trust Building, Identities, and Care . In it, she names the new roles and skill sets that those working in journalism need to invest in so that information can be used and trusted. They include:

• Relationship Builder


• Community Collaborator


• Community

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