The Problem:
The local news business model is broken and democracy
and the American people suffer as a result.
“We are at a moment of reckoning. The local news ecosystem is in peril.”
State of the Industry
3,200 newspapers have closed since 2005
Losses now average 2.5 newspapers per week
70+ million people live in counties defined as “news deserts”
39% of U.S. counties have a daily newspaper
By 2025 the U.S. will have lost 1/3 of all newspapers
Newsroom employment has decreased 70% since 2005
Residents of “news desert” counties turn to social media or TV for local breaking news
Important stories lack interest, staff, or resources
76% of Americans believe news organizations are motivated by financial interests, not public interest
7 of 10 Americans have never paid a news organization for access to news content
26% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the national news media
65% say local news organizations report the news fairly and accurately
17% of Americans are willing to pay for access to news
Vanishing Local News
Local newsrooms are disappearing at an alarming rate, while local TV stations consolidate into profit-driven media conglomerates focused on ratings. As reliable local news sources dwindle, many people turn to social media, blogs, podcasts, partisan websites, or misleading “pink slime” sites masquerading as legitimate news outlets.
Over-the-top (OTT) streaming channels, often touted as alternatives, fail to solve this growing problem. Of the 241 million U.S. cord-cutters, a significant number lack access to authentic local news that covers their counties or communities. Even those who watch so-called "local" news are often subjected to rebroadcasts of traditional 30-minute newscasts with just 12 minutes of actual news—often from distant television markets. For instance, a viewer in rural Colby, Kansas, might know more about events 290 miles away in Wichita than about what’s happening just five miles from home.
The map below illustrates this issue in detail. Click on any county or spike to explore the availability of news sources—print, digital, and TV—in every U.S. county. The listed TV stations represent primary broadcasters whose signals are rebroadcast by hundreds of satellite and low-power stations. Unsurprisingly, few of these smaller stations provide original daily local news for their communities.
Shrinking newsrooms exacerbate the problem. With fewer reporters covering more beats, stories become shorter and less detailed, follow-up coverage declines, and important issues may be ignored entirely. This lack of depth reduces audience engagement and subscriber numbers, leading to diminished advertising revenue and further undermining newsroom sustainability—a vicious cycle that is eroding journalism across the board.
Without robust, accountable reporting, critical issues like political corruption, environmental challenges, and failing education systems go unexamined. This decline in local journalism threatens democracy itself, leaving the public with a dangerous illusion of being informed when they are anything but.
An Industry In Decline
The Old Model Has Failed
Penny Abernathy, one of the preeminent scholars of the threat posed by the decline of local news coverage described the situation this way:
“Rethinking journalistic principles necessarily involves reinventing the business model. The collapse of the commercial model that sustained most newspapers, large and small, for 200 years has caused legacy and start-up news organizations to scramble to find new sources of revenue, including digital subscriptions, memberships, crowdsourcing and nonprofit grants. But so far, no silver bullet has emerged, nor is it likely that any single source of new revenue can adequately compensate for the loss of advertising dollars.”
Within her critique lies the answer: rather than look to sources that look and feel like the traditional advertising model, the answer is not just looking for replacement sources, but also rethinking news organizations altogether. Maybe news should not be thought of primarily as a media business, but as content business. If it is content, the question then becomes who is looking for and motivated to invest in engaging news content?
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The New Model Isn’t Much Better
The news and media industry is exploring several strategies to address the decline in local news:
Adopting a non-profit model funded by subscriptions, donations, and grants.
Producing locally-focused newsletters.
Developing locally-produced podcasts.
Creating digital-only news platforms.
Each approach comes with significant challenges. The non-profit model faces difficulties in acquiring and retaining subscribers, particularly during economic downturns. Relying on donations and grants increases competition among newsrooms for limited resources, further straining their sustainability.
Local newsletters and podcasts, while promising, struggle with discoverability and audience retention in an oversaturated market. With over 2.8 million active podcasts and 127.8 million episodes globally, alongside countless newsletters on platforms like Substack, standing out is increasingly difficult. For example, a search for "local news California" yielded results from Canada, England, Australia, and New York State, with only one California newsletter focused solely on San Francisco—highlighting the challenge of finding relevant content.
Digital-only products are easier to create and can reach broader audiences but remain reliant on subscriptions, donations, or philanthropy for revenue. Without large, consistent audiences, attracting advertisers, grants, or investors becomes a significant hurdle. According to recent data, there are 541 digital newsrooms in the U.S., most concentrated in metro areas with populations above 250,000. These outlets do little to address the growing issue of news deserts in smaller or rural communities.
Despite these efforts, none of these models have proven consistently sustainable or scalable. Many organizations pursuing these strategies have faced closures in recent years due to financial instability. Additionally, these approaches require resources to manage non-journalistic tasks such as advertising sales, subscription management, donor outreach, grant writing, and general operations—resources that are often scarce and detract from the core mission of reporting the news.
Whether using traditional ad-based models or emerging online-only non-profit approaches, the critical question remains: which strategy can sustainably strengthen or expand local community reporting? After careful evaluation, it is clear that none of these approaches currently offer a definitive or sustainable solution to the local news crisis.
Loss Of Local Control
The consolidation of networks and newsrooms has raised concerns about the potential for editorial bias driven by ownership’s political agendas, often at the expense of journalistic integrity and fairness. While some degree of editorial bias is inevitable, the single ownership of numerous newspapers and TV stations can dilute local perspectives, prioritizing broader national or corporate interests over community-focused reporting.
The video on the left highlights this issue, featuring a unified editorial statement that Sinclair Broadcasting required all its stations to air—an example of how corporate influence can overshadow independent journalism.
This is the trajectory local news could follow unless meaningful action is taken to address these challenges.