The State of Local News 2024

Medill's 2024 Report: A More Holistic Snapshot of a Rapidly Changing Local News Industry

An introduction to the 2024 State of Local News Report by Tim Franklin, Senior Associate Dean and John M. Mutz Chair in Local News and Director of the Medill Local News Initiative

Welcome to the third edition of Medill's annual State of Local News Report, a research project designed to provide new insights and identify trends in the country's rapidly changing local news ecosystem.

Our investigation this year uncovered major changes with significant implications for the news industry, our communities and our democracy.

The loss of local newspapers is continuing at an alarming pace, deepening the local news crisis and depriving people of even more information they need to make informed decisions. Local news deserts are spreading. Mergers and acquisitions are occurring at breakneck speed as many long-time newspaper owners exit and regional chains seize opportunities. Meanwhile, the number of standalone digital local news sites has continued to grow.

With this year's report, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism continues to expand its research to provide a more holistic view of local news in the United States. For the first time, this report includes a new data set that shows the growing number of local network news sites such as those operated by Patch, Axios and others. Medill also conducted a comprehensive survey to get a handle on the growing number of “ghost newspapers”: those that operate in name only and have virtually no local coverage of their own. The local news crisis is not just about the loss of local media; it is also about reducing collaborative reporting.

Medill recognizes that this database must constantly change and reflect the rapid transformation of the local news landscape. We also understand that when updating a database of more than 9,000 local outlets, we will miss some. If you have any suggestions for changes, please let us know here. We regularly receive questions about our methodology for this report. Further information can be found here.

Since this research began more than a decade ago, it has been led by Penny Abernathy, first at the University of North Carolina and since 2021 at the Medill School at Northwestern University. Abernathy retired in April after a long, distinguished career.

This is the first State of Local News project led by Dr. Zachary Metzger, who has worked with Abernathy on this research project for more than four years. Metzger now leads a team of two full-time research associates and half a dozen part-time student researchers.

Medill is grateful to the philanthropists who make this critical research possible. These include the Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation, Microsoft, Myrta J. Pulliam Charitable Trust and Medill alumnus Mark Ferguson.