Local news sources are still drying up, but there is a growth in digital sites in metropolitan areas

More than two newspapers a week closed in the United States in 2023, but a surge in activity among digital entrepreneurs showed some tiny spurts of growth in what has now become a desert climate for local news.

A total of 127 newspapers closed last year, while the number of 81 new digital sites added was the highest since the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University began measuring this activity in 2018, and possibly the highest ever.

“It shows there are some entrepreneurs and innovators out there,” said Tim Franklin, director of the Medill Local News Initiative.

A warning: Digital news is still an area of ​​high churn. In fact, 212 new websites were launched last year, including 30 former newspapers that converted to digital-only sites, while 131 closed, resulting in a net profit of 81.

The overall picture of local news remains difficult

The overall picture also remains ominous, as few of the factors that led to the decimation of the local news industry have actually changed. Advertisers and readers are still missing out. More than 3,200 newspapers have closed since 2005, leaving about 5,600 remaining, Medill said. Last year alone, almost 2,000 editorial jobs were lost.

“The local news crisis continues to grow,” Franklin said. “We see it in the spread of news deserts, the relentless pace of closures and the loss of newspaper jobs.”

The list includes the Hinton Times in northwest Iowa, which closed after 28 years when its owners retired; the Northland Press outside Brainerd, Minnesota, which ended after the death of its publisher; and the Tioga Tribune in North Dakota, whose editor left town.

About 90 percent of new digital sites are in metropolitan areas, serving communities that have had less coverage due to job losses at larger news outlets. In the Chicago region where Northwestern is located, Block Club Chicago provides hyperlocal coverage of nearly two dozen neighborhoods, The TRiiBE targets young, professional Black residents, and Cicero Independiente reaches Latino consumers.

There is still a need for news in rural areas

While this is good news for these communities, there is still an urgent need for news in rural areas, the report said. Using a metric that takes into account poverty and areas with only one news outlet, Medill placed 279 counties on its “watch list” of counties at risk of losing local news altogether. That is 22 percent more than in the previous year.

Medill also noted an increased pace of newspaper ownership changes — 258 in 2023 compared to 180 the year before. In contrast to a large chain like Gannett, a number of smaller companies are more active in acquiring newspapers, leading to growth at companies like Carpenter Media Group in Farmville, Virginia.

According to Zach Metzger, director of the Medill State of Local News Project, the digital startups that have emerged in recent years are more likely to be nonprofits than for-profits. This eliminates the cost of printing and distributing newspapers while providing greater flexibility in funding sources, he said.

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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.