US EditionThere’s a ‘Severe Shortage’ of Local News Across the US, New Report Reveals
UNITED STATES, JUL 10 – Local journalist numbers fell from 40 to 8.2 per 100,000 residents, leaving one-third of US counties without a full-time local reporter, researchers said.
- In 2025, the national average of local journalists has fallen to 8.2 LJEs per 100,000 residents, a 75% decline since 2002, according to a report published Thursday by Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack.
- US population growth combined with private equity ownership of newspapers has contributed to widespread local news coverage declines, creating news deserts even in populous counties like Vermont, which benefits from nonprofit outlets.
- Analysis of Muck Rack’s database shows over one-third of US counties lack even one full-time local journalist, highlighting the scope of the coverage decline.
- Thousands of rural, urban and suburban communities face news deserts, weakening community trust and accountability, with long-term societal costs highlighted by the report.
- The coalition of 50 organizations urges policymakers to use the data, showing only 4% of counties have adequate local journalist coverage, to drive targeted investments and reforms.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Why are more and more people avoiding the news?
The 2025 Digital News Report has found that the proportion of people with a high interest in news has fallen across every age group. Avoidance comes with a lack of trust and engagement. Some journalists advocate practicing "solutions-focused" journalism. FRANCE 24's media show Scoop discusses all this and more with Professor Charlie Beckett, head of the Journalism and AI project at the London School of Economics.
Georgia lags far behind other states in the number of journalists, says new report
The decline of local news continues on the national level and here at home in Georgia. A new local journalism report from Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack reveals a 75% decline in local journalists across the country since 2002.…
An evaluation of online information acquisition in US news deserts
A growing concern is that as local newspapers disappear, communities lose trusted gatekeepers and develop information voids, creating openings for misinformation to thrive. Previous work has not evaluated whether residents of news deserts have developed different information acquisition habits. We fill this gap by directly comparing information consumption and referral patterns inside and outside of news deserts in a novel dataset of engagement …
New report reveals alarming and widespread shortage of local journalists across the US - Editor and Publisher
The Local Journalist Index is a landmark study by Muck Rack, the trusted platform for journalists and communications professionals, and Rebuild Local News, the leading nonpartisan organization advancing public policies to strengthen community news, revealing a nationwide shortage of local journalists that's more widespread and severe than previously understood.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
