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.
Explore detailed profiles of local news attitudes and behaviors across the U.S.
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.
In an interactive feature, you can see detailed profiles of local news attitudes and behaviors across the United States.
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.
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.
As of August 2017, 43% of Americans report often getting news online, just 7 points lower than the 50% who often get news on television.
