“We write 365 days a year the first rough draft of history, and that is a very great task.”
-Former Washington Post President and Publisher Philip L. Graham
When you woke up this morning, did you reach for your phone? Scroll through Facebook or Twitter to catch up with what happened overnight? Hit “Like” on a meme? You’re not alone; nearly 65% of Americans report getting news from social media platforms. Gone are the days when the paper boy hurled a print edition at your doorstep.
Photo Courtesy of Scott Gregerson
Over 1,800 newspapers have shuttered in the last 15 years, regional newspapers have cut staff by 80-90%, and one in five Americans lives in a “news desert” with no local news source at all. In fact, in the last 20 years, the U.S. has lost more jobs in journalism than in coal mining (65% vs. 61%). Not only are there fewer journalists, those that remain are often less diverse and are from increasingly consolidated outlets, meaning journalists no longer live in the communities they cover.
"I would call what’s happening in journalism a mass extinction event.”
Farai Chideya, Program officer, Ford foundation
Why are local papers shutting all over the country? With the rise of the internet, people began to consume information differently, and ad revenue shifted to targeted online advertising, primarily via Google and Facebook. “Ad revenues -- which previously amounted to nearly $50 billion in the early 2000s and accounted for as much as 80% of the newspaper revenues -- have fallen to less than $20 billion” according to the Pew Research Center. This essentially caused the collapse of the business model for journalism. And what’s more, most people don’t even know it: 71 percent of Americans believe that their local news outlets are doing well financially.
Why This Matters
There are three key reasons why the collapse of local journalism matters to us:
Less Public Accountability. An essential function of local news is to hold local government and corporations accountable. Think of the role local news played in bringing the water crisis in Flint to light. In fact, when local news shutters, government costs increase. Counties that lose a newspaper can expect to see a “median rise in government salaries of $1.4 million, an average tax hike of $85 per capita, and an average deficit increase of $53 per capita.” Without that beat reporter sitting in the front row of a city council or Board of Education meeting, a controversial decision can become a done deal before the community even knows it’s happening.
“One problem with losing local coverage is that we never know what we don’t know.”
margaret sullivan,
columnist
washington post
Lower Civic Engagement. The links between media and civic engagement have been well studied and have found across the board that as local news erodes, civic engagement declines. In a review of numerous such studies the Democracy Fund concluded that,“Loss of local news leads to lower civic participation, lower voter turnout in elections, fewer people running for local office, and less oversight of those in power.”
Increased Polarization. Quality local news builds community and social cohesion by “narrating the life of a place and its inhabitants, telling the daily stories that form the basis for shared communal experience.” As local news outlets close, the information gap is filled with national news which tends to report through a more partisan lense and has shown an increase in polarization.
Our Approach
Our focus will be on bolstering local news through funding approaches aimed at systemic challenges the local news ecosystem is facing. Direct investments in individual, place-based media outlets (no matter how worthy!) do not make sense for us as a one-time funder. Instead we will focus on collaborative efforts and models that focus on more sustainable business models for local news. Organizations that are supporting an entire ecosystem of local news across many localities are particularly interesting to us as they can have a multiplier effect with our funding.
Investigative Journalism. Collaborations that pair national organizations with local outlets to bolster local newsroom capacity in key areas is one way we can invest in journalistic excellence at the local level. There are several strong national organizations focused on investigative journalism with a model specifically aimed at supporting local capacity to do this in depth reporting. Philanthropy is particularly important for investigative journalism as it takes tremendous resources and talent to see these stories through. Today’s funding climate for local newsrooms rarely can support such expense, despite its importance for accountability.
Solutions Journalism emphasizes not only the problem but also potential solutions. Journalists uncover a problem and identify ways in which people are working to fix the problem. When only bad news is reported -- another crime spree! everyone is corrupt! -- it creates a skewed view of a community, as citizens view the news as only reporting the bad and not the good, increasing the community’s distrust of the media. Pew reports that nearly 7 in 10 Americans report being “exhausted” by the news. Solutions journalism can help rebuild that trust and empower readers and communities to take action.
“We talk about copycat crimes. How about if we actually put the spotlight on solutions and what is working and generate copycat solutions?”
Arianna Huffington
Former Editor -In-Chief & President, Huffington Post
Sustainable Business Models. Local journalism is in a period of experimentation where new revenue models that reckon with the reality of a digital age are being tried and tested. One collaboration of donors that is supporting business model experimentation is the American Journalism Project. By pooling resources across many donors, this collaborative can make multiple investments in several local news outlets across the country while supporting their business model evolution. Other opportunities include:
- Models that expand audiences through more authentic citizen engagement;
- Membership models that increase financial support from a broader local audience.
A word on misinformation: Alternative facts, fake news, trolls, and bots are much in the news. In other parts of the world, disinformation and propaganda are par for the course in political campaigns. In the U.S., we remain woefully under-informed on how to deal with this growing problem. More research into tactics and transparency around what works is needed. Many worthy organizations and funders, including the Hewlett Foundation and Stanford Cyber Policy Center, are addressing this wicked problem. For now, investing in bolstering trusted, local media felt, for us, like a solution better suited to our funding scope and timeline.
RESOURCES
- Forbes. How Social Media Has Changed How We Consume News. 2018
- UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. The Loss of Local News: What It Means For Communities. 2020
- Pen America. Losing the News: The Decimation of Local Journalism and the Search for Solutions. 2019
- Pew Research Center. Newspapers Fact Sheet. 2019
- Harvard Kennedy Center’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy. Political polarization increases after local newspapers close. 2018
- Pew Research Center. Almost seven-in-ten Americans have news fatigue, more among Republicans. 2018