Journalists

Overall, about two-in-ten Americans say they have ever spoken with or been interviewed by a local journalist.

There are partisan divisions over certain aspects of local news reporting, including whether local journalists should express views on local issues.

Newsroom employees are more than twice as likely as other U.S. workers to be college graduates. But they tend to make less money than college-educated workers in other industries.

Between 2009 and 2014, the number of Washington-based reporters for local newspapers accredited by the Senate to cover Congress declined by 11%.

The public's muted response on possible government monitoring of their online behavior differs from that of investigative journalists, whose work makes them potential targets for monitoring.

The U.S.-based members of Investigative Reporters & Editors we surveyed were asked to describe how electronic surveillance and hacking have influenced their work or journalism as a whole.

Two-thirds of IRE journalists believe the U.S. government has probably collected data on their communications. But few have been dissuaded to pursue a story because of such concerns.

As journalism becomes an increasingly digital practice, the data and communications of investigative journalists have become vulnerable to hackers, government surveillance and legal threats. But what are these vulnerabilities – and what steps have investigative journalists taken to protect themselves?

The number of black journalists working at U.S. daily newspapers has dropped 40% since 1997. That represents a loss of almost 1,200 journalists — from 2,946 in 1997 to 1,754 in 2013.