Local News: What Will It Take to Save It?

There's been a lot of attention in the news recently about the latest assault on the free press in the United States.

The Trump administration's attempt to ban CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House highlights the administration's hostility towards journalism's key role in democracy.

But while we focus on national news outlets, the ongoing crisis in journalism is felt most acutely in smaller local newsrooms.

I know the crisis in local news firsthand.

I was laid off from a nonprofit newsroom and I've been freelancing ever since.

Local news sources are a huge factor in maintaining healthy communities and well-functioning governments, but they face grave challenges from private equity, AI, social media, and much more.

One of the most alarming statistics to us has been the economic profile and demographic profile of of communities that have lost newspapers.

Invariably, they are much poorer, much older, and less educated than the typical community that still has a newspaper.

That has huge consequences for this community.

To understand the policies that can remake resilient local news organizations, we're speaking today with Victor Picard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania.

and Matt Pierce, director of policy for the nonprofit Rebuild Local News.

First up is Victor.

There's been a lot of attention in the news recently about the latest assault on the free press in the United States.

The Trump administration's attempt to ban CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House highlights the administration's hostility towards journalism's key role in democracy.

But while we focus on national news outlets, the ongoing crisis in journalism is felt most acutely in smaller local newsrooms.

I know the crisis in local news firsthand.

I was laid off from a nonprofit newsroom and I've been freelancing ever since.

Local news sources are a huge factor in maintaining healthy communities and well-functioning governments, but they face grave challenges from private equity, AI, social media, and much more.

One of the most alarming statistics to us has been the economic profile and demographic profile of of communities that have lost newspapers.

Invariably, they are much poorer, much older, and less educated than the typical community that still has a newspaper.

That has huge consequences for this community.

To understand the policies that can remake resilient local news organizations, we're speaking today with Victor Picard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania.

and Matt Pierce, director of policy for the nonprofit Rebuild Local News.

First up is Victor.