Local news is the reporting of events that affect a specific community or geographic area, and plays a vital role in informing residents about government decisions, local events, and public services. It also enables citizens to connect with each other and the wider community by sharing their own experiences, opinions, and concerns.
The term “local news” includes traditional print newspapers, radio stations, and television broadcasts, as well as digital outlets that serve a local audience. Nonprofit newsrooms are also increasingly focusing on local stories, as well as leveraging collaboration and citizen engagement tools such as Hearken to produce high-quality journalism in their communities.
A strong local news ecosystem can help build trust in the media as a whole, particularly when it covers topics that directly impact residents’ daily lives. By providing a clear and accurate reflection of the issues at hand, it can reduce political polarization and increase civic participation.
Despite declining advertising revenues, many local news outlets are finding creative ways to remain financially sustainable. They may collaborate with other local news organizations to share staff or resources, partner with community groups to produce content, and develop new revenue streams to keep their doors open.
For example, the Boyle Heights Beat, a bilingual local news organization in Los Angeles, recruits high school students to report on their neighborhood. The students take part in a training program led by professional journalists, and their work is published alongside the professional reporters’, helping to break down barriers between student and adult journalism. The project also benefited from funding through the NewsMatch campaign, which matches donations to nonprofit news.