Local news focuses on events, issues and activities that directly impact a specific community or geographic area. It plays a critical role in shaping the identities of residents, fostering civic engagement and participation, and holding local institutions accountable. National journalism, on the other hand, has a greater reach and can shape conversations about national issues, influence public opinion and impact policy decisions.
Many local news outlets are struggling with declining advertising revenues and competition from digital platforms, impacting their ability to tell deep, in-depth stories that resonate with audiences. In addition, many smaller newsrooms lack the resources to cover large, complex, multi-faceted stories that require significant reporting and research. Fortunately, a variety of strategies are available to help local news thrive, including partnerships between smaller and larger newsrooms (as in ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network), collaboratives with multiple partners and alternative reporting approaches such as solutions journalism and restorative narratives.
In the United States, most local news is published by commercial print newspapers, radio and television outlets, and online and mobile apps. However, the term “local media” also can refer to nonprofit news organizations, including community-based newsrooms, which often collaborate with larger newsrooms to increase their capacity and reach. In some markets, local news segments are incorporated into larger evening network newscasts. For example, in Sweden, a 13-minute local news segment is incorporated into SVT’s evening newscast Aktuellt on weekdays at 18:30, and shares the same branding and graphics as Aktuellt.
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