Local News Coverage Builds Community
Today there are 50% fewer newspaper journalists than in
2008. The result is a decrease in
quality and quantity of public service journalism. Often, no reporter shows up
at town council meetings, nor do the journalists at many newspapers receive the
time or encouragement to produce in-depth analytical pieces that illuminate and
inform. Strong community newspapers encouraged social cohesion and political
activism. Just as all politics is local, all news that matters is ultimately
local. Readers of local newspapers are residents not only of a county, but
also of a region, a state and a nation. Strong news organizations put into
local context issues that may seem to be national or regional ones, such as
health care, education, jobs, community safety or the opioid crisis.[1]
Reviving Trust
The idea is to train young journalists in coverage of community issues and investigative reporting. This type of reporting revives trust with the community and offers the community the chance to become involved in the issues that shape their lives. Local news makes a huge difference. A PEN America study concluded with the loss of local news, citizens are less likely to vote, less politically informed, and less likely to run for office, according to the study. Democracy loses its foundation.[2] With each story, a bond of sorts is built between community groups and institutions as trust in the fairness of the reporting increases.
Catalyst for Change
Today, less local journalism—and
less meaningful journalism—moves through a diminished network. Perhaps under
the old scenario, the growing disaffection of rural, inner-city, and small-city
residents would have been widely recognized much earlier than the post 2016
election analysis. So might another under-reported story: the apparent
willingness of many people, across the country, to tolerate bigotry and
misogyny. This, too, is a story for local, as well as national, journalists. An
informed community helps build better schools, addresses health care needs, and
creates safer communities. In other words, it starts the discussion for a
hopeful future.[3]
Journalism’s Decline
Revenue has fallen dramatically. Layoffs mean fewer reporters covering critical issues. The lack of transparency resulting from the lack of coverage leads to distrust and a feeling of powerlessness. The public has not made the connection between revenue and reporting. In fact, 71% of the people we surveyed by Pew Research believe local media are doing well financially. The journalism industry has been struggling for over a decade now to find a revenue structure for the digital era, so it is a huge challenge for the industry to see such a large share of the public believe that local news media are doing well financially and not participate in the revenue model themselves.[4]
Benefits to Target Population
A robust local news presence will
better serve the community. Pew Research found, Local news consumers prize community connection. Older Americans,
black adults and those with a high school education or less show considerably
more interest in local news than their counterparts. In-depth local news
coverage increases community involvement in local issues and politics. Overall,
about two-in-ten Americans say they have ever spoken with or been interviewed
by a local journalist. That changes when reporters actively cover their
community. Recently some 61% of U.S. adults say they follow COVID-19 news at
both the national and local level equally, and 23% say they pay more attention
to local news. Americans who mainly get their news on social media are less
engaged and less knowledgeable.
At the same time, U.S. adults in this
group are less likely to get the facts right about COVID-19 and politics and
more likely to hear some unproven claims.
Benefits of Systemic Change
|
If reporting on politics is focused issues and not
personalities… |
Then the community becomes informed and increases
participation in the process. |
|
If reporting on educational issues includes voices from
the community… |
Then the community has a voice in how the schools are
run. |
|
If reporting on health care issues includes voices from
the community… |
Then the community has a stake in the health of its
people. |
|
If reporting on community safety includes voices from
the community… |
Then the community and the justice system start working
on solutions together. |
|
If reporting on issues is fair and factual and includes
a variety of views… |
Then constituencies within the community will start to
work together to seek answers. |
Return-on-Investment
The Website,
Saving Community Newspapers. put it this way, “In order to survive and
thrive, community news organizations must employ three strategies simultaneously. As a
publisher, you need to reduce costs associated with producing and distributing
the physical paper so you can invest the savings in building loyal readership
across multiple platforms (print, web, mobile, in-person events). This,
then, allows your newspaper to aggressively pursue new sources of advertising
revenue across the various platforms.”
The return
on investment will be measured by increased readership. Since this is primarily
an on-line newspaper analytics will be used to measure the number of hits to
the site and specific stories. Metrics like users, new users, duration, bounce
rate and pages per session will be used. These metrics can be applied to
individual pages and stories on the website. Increased use of push notification
through email and Social Media will be used to drive readers to stories based
on their interest. Increased utilization of podcasts will be used. The success
of podcasting is measured by downloads. The primary income driver for
Connecticut News is reader donations. These changes should result in increased
donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate support.
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