1,000 US counties without full-time local journalist: Report – KSN.com

by: Miriam Waldvogel, Posted: Jul 10, 2025 / 07:01 PM CDT, Updated: Jul 14, 2025 / 07:24 AM CDT

Fewer local journalists translates to fewer watchful eyes on school boards, local sports, businesses, town and city government, and other important local institutions, the report said.

(The Hill) — The number of local journalists per capita in the United States has declined by about 75 percent on average since 2002, according to a report by the nonprofit Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack, an aggregator of journalism bylines.

That includes more than 1,000 counties — about 1 in 3 — that do not have the equivalent of a full-time journalist, according to the report, which attempts to quantify the scale of America’s local news shortage.

Fewer local journalists translates to fewer watchful eyes on school boards, local sports, businesses, town and city government, and other important local institutions, the report said, calling the issue “more severe and widespread than previously thought.”

“The loss of local news relates to so many other problems plaguing the US: Polarization, radicalization, loneliness, lack of trust in everyone and everything,” Brian Stelter, CNN’s media reporter, wrote on social media.

Previous reports have attempted to chronicle the loss of local newspapers as longtime owners sell and more and more outlets are bought up by regional or national chains. The report from Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack, however, may be the first of its kind to attempt to count reporters, not outlets.

The report did so by using byline data from Muck Rack, which it collects from articles published online. Researchers created a process to identify profiles that represented local journalists, and then adjusted for the volume of articles published, freelance work and other factors.

The assessment found a sweeping loss of local journalists in counties across the country.

Editor’s Note: https://thehill.com/homenews/5395140-1000-us-counties-without-full-time-local-journalist-report/ See also…

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

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