GroundTruth Newsroom Tour

Mapping the Crisis in Local News

About the Crisis & the Journey

The collapse of America’s local journalism landscape is not new, but it is getting worse. Nearly 40 percent of all local newspapers have shut down over the past two decades – 130 in the past year alone, according to a study by Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative. As a result, roughly 50 million Americans have limited or no access to reliable local news, and 212 counties have zero local news sources. The crisis deepened when the Trump administration cut $1.1 billion in federal funding for public broadcasting, forcing layoffs at hundreds of stations that served as a vital news lifeline for millions of people. 

The consequences are significant: as news deserts grow, communities lose the watchdog journalism that holds local governments and institutions accountable. Even as nonprofit organizations and independent outlets work to fill the gap, the pace of innovation hasn't matched the scale of the decline. 

A new initiative called Local News Day is pushing back against this trend and the corrosive impact it is having on countless American towns. The April 9th event is a call-to-arms among journalists, news organizations, universities and local communities. At the helm is social entrepreneur John Adams, who also launched a non-profit digital news service, the Montana Free Press.

“This event is about celebrating local news and helping Americans connect with the great newsrooms, from longstanding local institutions to newer digital outlets, that are serving their communities,” Adams said. “As technology changes how people get information, we need new ways to help people stay connected to what’s happening where they live.

Charles Sennott, the founder of GroundTruth Media, has been dedicated to fortifying local news for decades. His first job right out of college in the mid 1980s was at a small public radio station, covering largely rural communities and small cities deteriorating as manufacturing jobs moved overseas. His journalism career took him across the country and the globe, allowing him to witness the decline in local news firsthand. This inspired Sennott to launch the GroundTruth Project and later Report for America, a national program that places reporters in under-covered areas to serve local communities. Over the seven years since it launched, it has helped produce more than 100,000 local news stories across the country.

In honor of Local News Day and to continue the fight against this nationwide decline, Sennott is embarking on a journey across the country, writing a series of columns on Substack to chronicle this decline while also bringing attention to the places that are innovating and charting the path out for other local newsrooms. Whether you are a new reader or a longtime supporter of his work, you can follow Sennott’s journey through this interactive map, which highlights every stop in his itinerary, offering links for his columns and further readings that help our understanding of the local news crisis in America and its importance. 

More Local News Coverage