"The industry's attempts to educate consumers "[seem] to largely have gone unheard," Amy Mitchell, then Pew's director of journalism research (she now heads the Center for News, Technology, and Innovation) said in a briefing at the time. "There's really a disconnect there between the public's knowledge and understanding about the industry and how it's functioning, compared with what we see in headlines day in and day out about budget cuts and revenue declines.""
""The poll showed that people living in news desert counties, defined as those with no professional news outlet based in their county, generally consume news at nearly the same rate as people living in areas served by local newspapers. Moreover, they don't think of themselves as being deprived of local news sources. They appear satisfied to have social media, TV news and other options to fill the gap.""
In 2019, 71% of 35,000 U.S. adults believed their local news outlets were doing very or somewhat well financially. Industry efforts to educate consumers about financial struggles appear to have largely gone unheard, reflecting a disconnect between public understanding and frequent headlines about budget cuts and revenue declines. A Medill-Qualtrics survey comparing 500 residents of news-desert counties with 500 residents of news-rich counties found that people in news deserts consume news at nearly the same rate as those in served areas and often do not feel deprived, relying on social media, TV news, and other options to fill local-news gaps.
Read at Nieman Lab
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