Local News in a Digital Age

Keywords: US, English, diversity, local news, digital, ethnic minorities, study, research, community media, all media formats, resources for media

The Pew Research Center published a report in March 2015 analysing the way local news are consumed in three distinct metropolitan areas in the United States: Denver, Colorado; Macon, Georgia; and Sioux City, Iowa.  One of the findings of the Pew reports is that minorities — African-Americans in Macon and Hispanics in metropolitan Denver — follow local news more intently than the white people do. The study also suggests that some populations are more engaged with their local news stream, and that this holds across a broader range of topics.

Commenting on the Pew study, Steve Buttry said that ‘news organizations have an opportunity to increase their audience with these segments of their communities if they:

  • Successfully reflect the diversity of the community in their coverage
  • Provide quality coverage of issues of interest to the community
  • Succeed in recruiting and retaining diverse news staffs’.

Pew_Research_Center_-_Local_News_in_a_Digital_Age.pdf