LOCAL NEWS MATTERS
Research on local news
What does the evidence tell us about local journalism’s reach, trust and public value? Explore Colorado studies and research from across the country.
What Colorado research tells us about local news
Colorado newspaper readership
81%
of Colorado adults reported reading a print or digital newspaper in a typical month
CPA’s study examines how Coloradans use print and digital newspapers, what readers value and how they respond to newspaper advertising. Among newspaper readers, 79% felt responsible for helping shape their community’s future.
Colorado newspaper readership
Colorado Press Association and Coda Ventures, Colorado Local News Market Study (2022).
Online survey of 601 Colorado adults, November 30–December 14, 2021. Findings describe self-reported habits and attitudes at that time.
How Coloradans use and value state and local news
80%
of surveyed Coloradans said state and local media did a good or excellent job providing emergency information
Keeping Coloradans informed about public affairs drew good or excellent ratings from 72%.
Colorado media attitudes
Colorado Media Project and Corona Insights, 2022 Statewide Survey of Attitudes Toward State and Local Media (2022).
Survey of more than 1,800 Colorado residents in summer 2022. Ratings describe respondents’ assessments of state and local media.
Colorado newsrooms: strained but resilient
53%
of the 106 Colorado news organizations that answered called their 2026 financial outlook stable
The survey included 164 organizations reporting on their work in 2025, with median editorial staffing of 2.5 full-time-equivalent positions. Of the 106 that answered the financial-outlook question, 16% planned expansion, 29% were uncertain and 2% reported a risk of closing. Small teams continue producing local reporting while working to strengthen revenue, audiences and operations.
Colorado newsroom financial outlook
Colorado News Collaborative (COLab), Colorado Media Project and Colorado Press Association, Colorado News Survey, published in COLab’s State of News: Colorado 2026 (August 24, 2026). Analysis led by COLab.
Published August 24, 2026. Financial-outlook findings are based on 106 respondents. Participants vary by year, so the survey is not a census.
Why people trust and rely on local news
Local news continues to earn public trust
75%
of U.S. adults told Pew Research Center in September 2026 they had a lot of or some trust in information from local news organizations
Trust in local news
Pew Research Center, “Americans’ Trust in Information From News Organizations Has Risen in the Past Year” (November 2, 2026).
Survey of 5,193 U.S. adults, September 14–20, 2026, through Pew’s American Trends Panel. Trust in local news was up 5 points from September 2025.
Information and connection draw people to local news
79%
of respondents to a national survey cited staying informed as a reason they seek out local news
Thirty-nine percent cited feeling connected to their community. Respondents could choose more than one reason.
Reasons people seek out local news
America’s Newspapers and Coda Ventures, 2023 Local Newspaper Study.
Industry-commissioned online survey of 5,000 adults in the contiguous U.S., October 19–November 14, 2022. The public results do not report a separate sample size for this multiple-response item.
What happens when local news disappears
Newspaper coverage and industrial pollution
29%
lower toxic emissions at consumer-goods plants after newspaper coverage, relative to plants whose emissions were not covered
The event study compared changes in toxic emissions around newspaper coverage, using plants without coverage as a comparison group.
Newspaper coverage and industrial emissions
Pamela Campa, “Press and Leaks: Do Newspapers Reduce Toxic Emissions?” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 91 (2018), 184–202.
The event study matched U.S. plant-level EPA emissions and newspaper data from 1996–2009. The 29% estimate is for the consumer-goods subgroup and compares plants whose emissions received newspaper coverage with those whose emissions did not.
Civic participation after newspaper losses
Denver and Seattle
Civic engagement declined in Denver and Seattle after newspaper losses in 2009, a pattern not consistently seen in the comparison cities. Denver lost the Rocky Mountain News; the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ended print publication and continued online.
Civic engagement in Denver and Seattle
Lee Shaker, “Dead Newspapers and Citizens’ Civic Engagement,” Political Communication 31 (2014), 131–148.
The study compared civic-engagement data from 2008 and 2009, a short period that also included the recession.
A second view: the Cincinnati Post
After the Cincinnati Post closed, researchers found lower voter turnout and fewer municipal candidates in the Kentucky communities that had relied on it most.
Civic participation after the Cincinnati Post
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl and Miguel Garrido, “Do Newspapers Matter? Short-Run and Long-Run Evidence From the Closure of The Cincinnati Post,” Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis working paper (2011); published in Journal of Media Economics (2013).
The Post closed at the end of 2007. The authors note that their estimates are imprecise.
Public finances and local commerce
Public borrowing after newspaper closures
5–11 basis points
Higher local-government borrowing costs after newspaper closures
A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Researchers found that local governments paid more to borrow after newspaper closures; the estimate varied across models and bond types. The authors calculate that 10 basis points adds about $650,000 to the cost of an average municipal bond issue.
Borrowing costs after newspaper closures
Pengjie Gao, Chang Lee and Dermot Murphy, “Financing Dies in Darkness? The Impact of Newspaper Closures on Public Finance,” Journal of Financial Economics 135(2) (2020), 445–467.
The study examined newspaper changes and municipal borrowing over 1996–2015. The numerical range here refers to the linked 2018 working paper.
Newspaper losses reach local commerce
7.8%
lower average weekly revenue for home-state-only consumer brands in counties that lost a newspaper, compared with similar neighboring counties that kept theirs
Georgia State researchers followed regional consumer brands, comparing counties that lost newspapers with similar neighboring counties.
Newspaper losses and local brands
Alok Saboo, Koray Cosguner and Ritesh Adhyapak, “The Diminishing Local Lens: A Study on the Economic Effects of Local Newspaper Closures on Regional Brands,” described in Georgia State University’s June 10, 2026 research release.
About 3,600 brands sold within their home state; retail scanner data from 2006–2017, comparing newspaper-loss counties with similar neighboring counties.
The challenges — and reinvention — of local news
New outlets emerge as coverage gaps grow
300+
local-news startups launched over five years
Medill’s research documents both the continuing loss of local news and efforts to rebuild it. In 2025, 213 U.S. counties had no local news source and 1,524 had only one, leaving about 50 million people with limited or no access. More than 300 startups launched over the past five years, about 80% of them digital-only, but most are in metro areas, leaving rural and less affluent communities further behind.
The changing local-news landscape
Northwestern University Medill Local News Initiative, The State of Local News 2025.
The county inventory includes newspapers, digital-only outlets, ethnic media and public broadcasters. Startup counts are not net growth; these are the report’s 2025 findings.
A STRONGER TOMORROW
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