Local news covers issues that affect a specific community or geographic area and is critical to informing citizens, fostering a sense of community identity, and addressing local concerns. It plays a key role in holding institutions accountable and providing a voice to those who might otherwise go unheard. It also contributes to civic engagement by helping people understand what’s at stake in local elections and holding public officials accountable for their decisions.
Research shows that the loss of local news is having a profound impact on our democracy—it increases political polarization, decreases voting rates, and reduces government accountability. And that’s why it’s crucial for nonprofit news organizations to find creative ways to keep local journalism alive and well.
The local stories featured below highlight innovative strategies, including collaborations between multiple stakeholders and reporting partners and partnerships between national and local newsrooms, that can help the pillars of a healthy local news ecosystem thrive. From a story about the effects of federal budget cuts on a local hospital to one about a new obstetrics residency program at a small-town community college, these pieces show how to put a big picture spin on local stories.
While these examples focus on newspapers, they also highlight the many ways that newsrooms can fill the gaps left by declining ad revenue and the proliferation of social media. This includes public radio, local television, and digital-only start-ups. In the US, we often talk about “news deserts,” referring to places where people don’t have access to a reliable source of local news. But the health of local news ecosystems is broader than just newspapers—and these stories demonstrate how other sources can fill in those gaps.
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