New Local Journalist Index Reveals 2026 Data on Local News Crisis
Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack report that 70% of counties are severely undercovered – employing below-average numbers of local journalist equivalents – and large number of counties have hardly any coverage of education and health.
How Local News Reduces Loneliness
One more reason rebuilding local news is vital. Academic research suggests that whether it’s an obituary, a puff piece, or news of a sale on tuna at the grocery, local news makes us feel less alone.
A JOINT PROJECT OF
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LOCAL JOURNALIST INDEX
The 2026 national study finds the shortage of local journalists persists, and that a widening collapse in coverage has left more than 209 million people in communities where essential local reporting has all but disappeared.
The Rebuild Local News Coalition
- National Newspaper Association
- Press Forward
- The NewsGuild-CWA
- Institute for Nonprofit News
- National Newspaper Publishers Association
- LION Publishers
- Society of Professional Journalists
- Public Media Company
- Online News Association
- National Association of Hispanic Publications
- AAN
- Center for Cooperative Media
- Institute for Rural Journalism
- American Journalism Project
- Solutions Journalism Network
- National Trust for Local News
- Local Media Consortium
- Report Local
- Public Knowledge
- PEN America
- National Writers Union
- Trusting News
- Media and Democracy Project
- Military Veterans in Journalism
- The Lenfest Institute for Journalism
- Poynter
- League of Women Voters of Washington
- National Federation of Community Broadcasters
- Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association
- Wisconsin Newspaper Association
- Kansas Press Association
- Arizona Media Association
- Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association
- Mississippi Press Association
- West Virginia Press Association
- Colorado Press Association
- Maine Press Association
- Wyoming Press Association
- Alaska News Coalition
- Chalkbeat
- Black Voice News
- The AFRO American Newspapers
- Ohio Center for Journalism
- Tucson Sentinel
- The Examiner News
- Key Biscayne Independent
- West View Media
- Sierra Nevada Ally
- Alameda Post
- Wrangell Sentinel
- Greensboro Latino
- TAPinto
- My Neighborhood News Group
- The JOLT News Organizations
- Nutfield Publishing
- Oxford Free Press
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Are you, your publication or your organization interested in joining the coalition?
How the government can help
The coalition also advocates for: antitrust reform to prevent newspaper consolidation, tax credit for consumers to subscribe to newspapers, changes to banking regulations to help small media organizations that serve low and moderate income communities, and more.
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