Why Local NEWS?

Local NEWS outlets (TV, Radio, Newspapers) have been dying for two decades as advertisers fled to digital, and newsrooms shrunk - creating "NEWS DESERTS” in over 2,000 US counties.

This created 2 problems:
1) Locals have limited access to local news that matters, and is important to their community and
2) local advertisers need to use global platforms to reach locals, which can be costly and ineffective. (46% of Google searches are seeking local info).

Creative broadcast news solution Local News Network fills void in small news deserts

January 21, 2021
Local Media Association
Creative broadcast news solution Local News Network fills void in small news deserts
The Local News Network offers a new business model to help small and rural news deserts regain momentum. The broadcast outlet produces individual news stories that air at various video displays across each market. The stories are packaged with local business advertisements, which LNN produces, or advertisers provide.
https://www.localmedia.org/creative-broadcast-news-solution-local-news-network-fills-void-in-small-news-deserts/

A Cornerstone of Democracy, Collapsing

December 1, 2020
New York Times
A Cornerstone of Democracy, Collapsing
In the internet’s early days, it seemed to have the potential to crush traditional print media. But its impact has turned out to be more nuanced.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/briefing/giving-tuesday-white-house-christmas-decorations-vaccine.html

Can Engineers Design Better Paywalls For Local News Outlets?

October 30, 2020
Publisher's Daily
Can Engineers Design Better Paywalls For Local News Outlets?
This week's announcement that The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News would switch from daily to weekly distributionnext year was the latest indication of the plight of local newspapers. Amid the declines in revenue from advertising and classifieds, paid subscriptions and paywalls have become more important ways for publishers to monetize their content.
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/357337/can-engineers-design-better-paywalls-for-local-new.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=readmore&utm_campaign=120297&hashid=GQ_3vhQ1bt6B0Zi9wyWRokyg8kU

New steps to preserve and protect journalism and local newsrooms

October 7, 2020
Microsoft Corp.
New steps to preserve and protect journalism and local newsrooms
We’ve been looking at ways Microsoft’s technology and resources can help address some of the challenges journalism faces, and today I want to share some of the initial work of our initiative. It includes a new community-based pilot program that looks at ways to provide journalists and newsrooms new tools, technology and capacity, and expand reach for local news outlets.
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/10/07/local-news-pilot-accountguard-defending-democracy/

Americans are losing faith in an objective media. A new Gallup/Knight study explores why.

August 4, 2020
John Sands on Medium
Americans are losing faith in an objective media. A new Gallup/Knight study explores why.
Americans have high aspirations for the news media to be a trusted, independent watchdog that holds the powerful to account. But in a new Gallup/Knight study, we’ve found the gap is growing between what Americans expect from the news and what they think they are getting. Perceptions of bias are increasing too, which further erodes the media’s ability to deliver on its promise to our democracy.
https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/americans-are-losing-faith-in-an-objective-media-a-new-gallup-knight-study-explores-why-8bc87139648e

'Ghosting The News' Author Says Local Journalism 'Freefall' Is Accelerating

August 3, 2020
NPR
'Ghosting The News' Author Says Local Journalism 'Freefall' Is Accelerating
More than 2,000 newspapers have shut down in recent years, and some regions have become news deserts. Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan says the collapse of local news undermines democracy.
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/03/898547327/ghosting-the-news-author-says-local-journalism-freefall-is-accelerating

Covid-19 has ravaged American newsrooms. Here’s why that matters.

July 20, 2020
Nieman Lab
Covid-19 has ravaged American newsrooms. Here’s why that matters.
The irony is that while battering journalism, the pandemic has also underlined the need for reliable local news.
https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/07/covid-19-has-ravaged-american-newsrooms-heres-why-that-matters/

The coronavirus has closed more than 30 local newsrooms across America. And counting.

May 20, 2020
Poynter
The coronavirus has closed more than 30 local newsrooms across America. And counting.
At first, the pandemic cost newsrooms jobs and communities critical work. Now it’s starting to end entire newsrooms.
https://www.poynter.org/locally/2020/the-coronavirus-has-closed-more-than-25-local-newsrooms-across-america-and-counting/?utm_source=Daily+Lab+email+list&utm_campaign=1aa699e42c-dailylabemail3&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d68264fd5e-1aa699e42c-396566907

Less Local News Means Less Democracy

September 20, 2019
Nieman Lab
Less Local News Means Less Democracy
When local journalism declines, so does government transparency and civic engagement
https://niemanreports.org/articles/less-local-news-means-less-democracy/

U.S. newspapers have shed half of their newsroom employees since 2008

April 20, 2020
Pew Research Center
U.S. newspapers have shed half of their newsroom employees since 2008
Newsroom employment at U.S. newspapers continues to plummet, falling by around half since 2008, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. But a modest increase in jobs after 2014 in other news-producing sectors – especially digital-native organizations – offset some of the losses at newspapers, helping to stabilize the overall number of U.S. newsroom employees in the last five years.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/20/u-s-newsroom-employment-has-dropped-by-a-quarter-since-2008/
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