Paying for Local News

Mason Walker at Pew:

Local newsrooms across the country are struggling financially amid declines in revenue and staffing, but the public is broadly unaware of these challenges. A majority of U.S. adults believe their local news media are doing well financially, even as only 14% say they have paid for local news themselves in the past year, either through subscribing, donating or becoming a member, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last fall.

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U.S. adults who are more civically engaged – those who have participated in a political event in the past year or are currently active in or a member of a local group or organization in their community – are far more likely to pay for local news than those who are less engaged. Roughly three-in-ten (29%) of those who are highly active in their local community say they have paid for local news in the past year. That is almost twice the rate of those who are somewhat active (14%) and about five times the rate of those who are inactive in their community (6%).