Pew Research Center Finds Local News Plays Critical Role in U.S, Though News Environments and Habits Vary Dramatically

Written By: Talk of the Sound News

WASHINGTON, DC — Nearly nine-in-ten residents  follow local news closely — and about half do so very closely, according to a detailed examination of local news ecologies in three different metro areas in the U.S. The study was conducted by Pew Research Center in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The report takes an in-depth look at the news environments in Denver, Colorado (a highly-educated, urban area of more than two million adults), Macon, Georgia (a metro area of 175,000 adults with a substantial share of black residents and an unemployment rate above the national average), and Sioux City, Iowa (a city that spans three states and has a predominantly white population of just 125,000 adults).

The analysis finds race and ethnicity to be one of the greatest divides in news habits. Hispanics in Denver and blacks in Macon closely follow local and neighborhood news at higher rates than their white counterparts. In Denver, 60% of Hispanics, compared with 43% of whites, closely follow news about the local area; in Macon that is true of 70% of blacks, compared with 43% of whites. Each of these groups is also at least twice as likely as whites in their respective city to feel they can have a big impact on the city (42% of Hispanics in Denver, compared with 21% of whites; in Macon, 36% of blacks vs. 14% of whites). The two cities differ greatly in the news options catering to these minority groups. Researchers identified nine outlets in Denver aimed at Hispanics and/or Spanish speakers but just one in Macon that appeared to cater directly to the black community.

The case studies also find that digital technology has impacted news habits in all three cities, but at different levels:

  • More than half of residents in each city access at least one local news provider digitally: 68% of Denver residents, 66% of residents in Macon and 56% in Sioux City.
  • Residents of Denver are most likely to say the internet is very important in keeping up with local news (45%, compared with 38% in Macon and 33% in Sioux City), and are the most likely to use at least one digital device for news (79% vs. about two-thirds in Macon and Sioux City).
  • Macon residents trail behind Denver in broadband access, device ownership and news options (just six of 24 news providers in Macon offer daily digital news content), but are more likely than others to access a specific news provider through a social networking site.
  • Sioux City residents flock in the greatest numbers to the daily newspaper but are the least likely of the three to access it digitally: 37% of residents who get news from the daily paper do so (at least in part) digitally, compared with 43% of newspaper readers in Macon and 47% in Denver.   

 “Local news plays an important role in each of these cities,” says Amy Mitchell, Pew Research Center’s director of journalism research. “But these case studies indicate how local factors — including digital infrastructure, economics, race and ethnicity, civic engagement and education — contribute to the mix of providers and shape the way residents interact with those providers.”

“While local news continues to be a regular and influential part of people’s lives, the ways in which they consume that news has changed dramatically,” said Jon Sotsky, Knight Foundation director for strategy and assessment. “This study provides important insights on how people interact with, share and connect to news in three diverse American cities— helping journalists and media organizations identify new ways to engage audiences and build stronger local news ecosystems.”

  • Local TV is the single most visible presence in the news space, though a majority of stories produced are short anchor reads that require little reporting.
  • The role of the main daily newspaper varies from city to city, but the emphasis in each is on more civically-oriented and press-initiated coverage than is found in local TV.
  • Citizens are a part of the news process, but mainly as quoted sources or as disseminators of news in social media.

Civically-engaged residents are more connected with their local news and are drawn to a more diverse set of news sources. In each city, more civically-engaged residents follow local news topics at higher rates than the less civically engaged. 

These findings are for immediate release and available at Journalism.org

Journalism that Matters Value Network Maps of News and Information Ecosystems.