Say the word “journalist” in our loud and online culture, and most people may think about the national coverage — especially of politics — that they see in their social media feeds or on national cable.
But anyone who cares about division in our country shouldn’t forget local journalists. These people who live in the communities they serve cover what’s happening in local governments, among local businesses, the art scene and among neighbors — news that affects people deeply and daily.
Perhaps that’s why local news remains more trusted than national. But local news is challenged. “News deserts” are multiplying, and the workforce that remains is stretched thin.
Those who care about overcoming division — whether social science researchers or civil society leaders — have a lot to gain from exploring how their work might help dedicated local journalists across the country. We’ve seen it up close in our nonprofit programming for news leaders — and we’ve seen how it can improve the work of researchers and bridge-builders, too.
But don’t take our word for it. Here, we’ve gathered reflections from researchers in social science who have attended recent API Local News Summits, where they had the chance to interact with and explore how their work helps — and can be improved by insights from — local journalism.
- Why conversations with news leaders are key to effective research recommendations. Political scientist Yanna Krupnikov reflects on how hearing the resource challenges and self-critique of their work can inform the focus and communication of research findings to local journalists.
- Connecting with newsrooms can lead to collaborative projects that disrupt polarization. Kate Carney of the polarization research nonprofit More in Common reflects on local media as a “pillar of community life” and how connecting further with the field has sparked collaboration with local media.
- Bring together social researchers and news leaders to promote innovative community engagement. Social psychologist Andrew Abeyta reflects on how his research may have more local applications than he previously imagined and how local media’s innovations in community engagement might inspire community-engaged research as well.
The authors for this collection are “non-news” experts who attended our API Local News Summits, where tapping ideas outside of journalism to solve news challenges is a key element. These essays were commissioned ahead of a report on how API and other journalism support organizations are learning to bring journalists and non-news experts together in fruitful exchanges.
API is also involved in efforts to close the gaps between news leaders and researchers already studying media. We welcome opportunities to help make research more practical and useful for busy news leaders seeking to improve their local journalism and their local communities.
If you are interested in learning more about any of this work, please email Kevin Loker and Sam Ragland at hello@pressintitute.org.
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- Pluralism and polarization: The value of research for local journalism
- Why conversations with news leaders can help researchers make more effective recommendations
- Connecting with newsrooms can lead to collaborative projects that disrupt polarization
- Bring together social researchers and news leaders to promote innovative community engagement
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After a six-month pilot of an ecosystem-wide local news advisory committee, we’re sharing a multi-part perspective series on this effort: an outgrowth of our deep, three-year commitment to the Pittsburgh media ecosystem, which included two learning cohorts, a dozen community listening sessions and now this committee.
The press will be much more effective in serving people and strengthening democracy if it learns from what researchers are learning. Among the examples and takeaways, you will find that news leaders and non-news experts alike value the opportunity to think differently about the challenges in front of them, about how local news can change and how research can ask different questions.
We'll share some of the resources, tools and lessons learned from our training sessions and research help desk. We hope you can use these as you plan your continuing accountability coverage and start thinking about the next election on the horizon.
