The Challenge

The Challenge

The Knight Commission concluded that the information needs of America’s communities “are being met unequally, community by community.” In summary, the Commission said:

Some populations have access to local news and other relevant information through daily newspapers, radio and television broadcasts, local cable news channels, hyper-local websites, services that connect to police reports and other sources of local information, blogs, and mobile alerts. Others are unserved or are woefully underserved.

Even as the Commission did its work, the situation was getting dramatically worse. Traditional media, most notably newspapers, have been severely impacted by the faltering economy and by a fundamental shift of advertising revenue to the Internet. In response, they have cut journalistic resources dramatically. The result is less reporting of all kinds, but especially the independent local reporting that holds government and the private and corporate sector accountable and that helps people to participate fully in their communities.3

Imagine the public outcry if, in a matter of three years, the nation lost nearly 30 percent of its schoolteachers, or there were nearly a third fewer police officers keeping the peace. That is what happened to local newspapers across America from 2007 to 2009. The result is dramatically fewer journalists to cover school boards, city councils, legislatures and civic issues.

At the same time, there has been an increase in emerging news media and exciting examples of journalism being created in non-traditional settings. In some cases this emerging journalism can address coverage needs that were never effectively reported by traditional media, such as neighborhood news. This is complementing but not replacing the reporting lost in traditional media. Perhaps most importantly, emerging media struggle to be sustainable businesses.

Previous Page | Next Page: The Opportunity