Here is the strange thing about local news in 2026: Americans say they care about it, and they keep using it, but fewer of them pay for it, follow it closely or notice when it disappears. Eighty percent of U.S. adults told Pew Research Center that local news is at least somewhat important to their community’s well-being. In the same year, Northwestern’s Medill School counted 26 new news deserts, the largest single-year jump since it began tracking.
That gap between what people value and what survives has real consequences for anyone doing local PR. The outlets on your media list may have closed, merged or shrunk to one reporter. The places people now get local news, including TV station websites, Facebook groups, newsletters and neighbors, require different pitches. Below are 30 local news statistics from the latest research, grouped by what they mean for your work.
The two main sources are Medill’s State of Local News reports for 2025 and 2026, and Pew Research Center’s local news fact sheet, which draws on surveys from August and December 2025.
The news desert map keeps growing
1. 238 U.S. counties are now news deserts, with no local news source, according to Medill’s 2026 report.
2. 26 counties became news deserts in the past year, the largest single-year increase in the five years Medill has tracked that change (Medill, 2026).
3. In 2025, Medill counted 1,524 additional counties with only one remaining local news source, putting them one closure away from becoming deserts (Medill, 2025).
4. About 50 million Americans had limited or no access to local news in 2025, up from about 37 million two decades earlier (Medill, 2025).
5. Fewer than 50 counties that lack a newspaper have an alternative digital or broadcast outlet filling the gap (Medill, 2026).
A county with one outlet is a county where one reporter decides what gets covered. For a local business or nonprofit, that makes the relationship with that reporter matter more, not less.
Closures are speeding up
6. About 170 newspapers closed or merged in the most recent year, up from 136 closures in the 2025 report (Medill, 2026 and 2025).
7. Illinois lost 30 newspapers between July 2025 and August 2026, nearly one in five of the national total (Medill, 2026).
8. About 70% of the papers lost over the past 20 years were in urban or suburban areas, but recent closures are increasingly hitting smaller, rural and poorer communities (Medill, 2026).
9. Newsprint prices rose nearly 18% over the past year, about five times the national inflation rate, and the U.S. was down to one remaining newsprint producer as of April 2026 (Medill, 2026).
10. Newspaper employment fell 7% in a single year and is down more than three quarters since 2005 (Medill, 2025).
Who is left: local TV and public media
11. Medill identified 678 local commercial TV newsrooms nationwide (Medill, 2026).
12. The five largest station owners control more than half of those newsrooms, and the ten largest control 75% (Medill, 2026).
13. Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna would combine the second- and fourth-largest owners, and faces an antitrust lawsuit (Nieman Lab, reporting alongside the 2026 report).
14. Nearly 300 public radio stations and more than 100 public TV stations produce local reporting, and in nine counties public radio is the only local news source (Medill, 2025).
Local TV is now the backbone of local news in much of the country. For PR, that means visual stories, on-camera spokespeople and B-roll matter as much as a well-written release. Consolidation also means one corporate owner’s policies can shape coverage across dozens of markets.
How people get local news now
15. Only 21% of U.S. adults follow local news very closely, down from 37% in 2016 (Pew, December 2025).
16. 65% get local news from local TV stations at least sometimes (Pew, 2025).
17. 72% get local news from other residents, such as family, friends and neighbors, which tops every institutional source (Pew, 2025).
18. 52% get local news from online forums or discussion groups, up from 38% in 2018 (Pew, 2025).
19. 42% get local news from other online-only sources, up from 15% in 2018 (Pew, 2025).
20. 40% get local news from local government agencies or officials, and another 40% from local organizations (Pew, 2025).
21. 36% get local news from news influencers, the first year Pew asked (Pew, 2025).
22. Only 36% get local news from a local daily newspaper at least sometimes (Pew, 2025).
The shift toward forums, newsletters and local institutions is the most useful finding for PR. Facebook groups, Nextdoor, neighborhood newsletters, school district updates and chamber of commerce emails are now real local news channels, and many of them take submissions.
Platforms and preferences
23. Television is still the preferred platform for local news at 34%, followed by news websites or apps at 28%, social media at 20%, print at 8% and radio at 8% (Pew, 2025).
24. 43% of local TV news users now mainly get it online, up from 22% in 2018 (Pew, 2025).
25. 68% of local daily newspaper users mainly read it online, compared with 30% who mainly read print (Pew, 2025).
Read those three together. Even the “TV people” and the “newspaper people” increasingly reach their local outlet through a screen. A local story that lives only in a broadcast segment or a print page reaches a shrinking slice of its own audience. Ask every outlet whether your story will run online, and share that link everywhere.
The money problem
26. Only 12% of U.S. adults paid for or donated to local news in the past year, down from 15% in 2024 (Pew, August 2025).
27. Half of those who don’t pay say they can find plenty of local news for free (Pew, 2025).
28. 57% think their local news outlets are doing well financially, down from 71% in 2018, which suggests many people still do not realize how much trouble local outlets are in (Pew, 2025).
The money numbers explain the closures. When only about one adult in eight pays for local news and half of the rest think it is free anyway, outlets live on advertising and philanthropy. Both are under pressure. Local advertisers have moved budgets to search and social platforms, and nonprofit newsrooms depend on grants that rarely reach small rural markets.
For PR, this has two effects. Newsrooms have fewer people, so a pitch that saves a reporter time, with facts checked, photos ready and sources lined up, has a real edge. And some outlets now sell sponsored content, newsletters and events to stay alive. That can be a legitimate option for a local business, as long as everyone is clear about what is paid and what is editorial. Never blur the line, because readers in small communities notice, and the outlet’s credibility is part of what you are buying.
Traffic and new outlets
29. Comscore data covering more than 700 local news sites showed average monthly traffic down almost 30%, and traffic to the 100 largest local newspapers fell almost 50% since 2022 (Medill, 2026).
30. Of 287 local news outlets launched in the past five years, nearly 80% are in urban areas, leaving rural deserts largely unserved (Medill, 2026).
Startups are real and growing, but they cluster where the money and audience already are. If your client operates in a small town, the outlet that used to cover it may not have a replacement.
The traffic numbers matter for anyone who measures local coverage by referral clicks. A placement on a local site that has lost a third of its traffic will send fewer visitors than the same placement did in 2022. That does not make it worthless. Local coverage still builds trust with the people who see it, gets shared in community groups, and gives search engines and AI systems a credible local source that names your business. When someone asks an AI assistant for “the best bakery in” a small town, local press mentions are among the few signals it has to work with.
What this means for local PR
We use a quick exercise for every local campaign, which we call the Local Reach Check. Before you write a press release, list every channel that reaches the community you care about, in four layers.
The first layer is professional newsrooms: the daily or weekly paper if one still exists, local TV stations and public radio. Check bylines from the last month to make sure each one still covers your area. Staff cuts often mean a reporter who covered your town now covers three counties, or has left entirely.
The second layer is digital-native outlets: local news startups, nonprofit newsrooms and newsletters. Many are small, but they are often hungry for stories and more open to community news than a stretched daily.
The third layer is community channels: Facebook groups, Nextdoor, neighborhood newsletters and local influencers. These are now where many residents first hear news, according to Pew’s data on forums and residents. Most groups have rules about promotion, so read them, and offer useful information rather than ads.
The fourth layer is institutions: city and county governments, school districts, libraries, chambers of commerce and local nonprofits. Pew found 40% of adults get local news from these sources, and many have newsletters and social accounts that share community news.
If your list only covers the first layer, you are missing most of where local news now travels. If the first layer has dropped to one outlet or none, the other three layers are your campaign.
One more point. Only 23% of Americans have ever spoken with a local journalist, according to Pew. That makes a working relationship with the reporters who remain unusually valuable. Be the source who helps them, with accurate information, quick responses and stories that matter to their community, and you will be the first call when they need one. Build your four-layer list this week, and pitch the second, third and fourth layers with the same care you give the first.