Local News

U.S. adults in this group are less likely to get the facts right about COVID-19 and politics and more likely to hear some unproven claims.

Some 61% of U.S. adults say they follow COVID-19 news at both the national and local level equally, and 23% say they pay more attention to local news.

While few Americans pay for local news, some people are more likely to do so than others – and most believe their local news outlets are doing well financially.

Older Americans, black adults and those with a high school education or less show considerably more interest in local news than their counterparts.

Local television news programming has shed audience over the past decade, but it still garners more viewers on average than cable and network news programs.

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

A majority of rural Americans say local news media mostly cover an area other than the one where they live.

Nearly as many U.S. adults prefer to get local news online as through a TV set. And while Americans prize community connection from their local news providers, they are largely unaware of the financial challenges they face.

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

Amy Mitchell, director of journalism research at Pew Research Center, discusses the findings of a new study on America's local news landscape.