This paper was a long effort informed by so many kind and wonderful scholars, especially those affiliated with the Local News Impact Consortium and the Local Journalism Researchers' Workshop (@duke-dwc.bsky.social & UNC Hussman School) so thank you all so much :')

www.localnewsimpact.org

We also analyzed the three primary metaphors researchers use to describe their own studies: Ecologies, infrastructures, and ecosystems. These are evocative but often used interchangeably and imprecisely. The lack of clarity and conceptual slippage of these terms should be addressed by the subfield.

Through a content analysis of local news census research, we find that most studies stick to a single context (usually state), traditional media, and limited documenting. We also present this map that shows where studies have (and have not) been conducted. Most of the US lacks an ecosystem analysis.

In this study, we look at what we call "local news census" research, which attempts to map, measure, and assess the health of a geographically-bound local news system. Primarily produced through white papers and research reports, these studies give a snapshot of a locale's current news offerings.

thank you curd! :)

This work is part of the INEQNEWS project at @imec-smit.bsky.social and funded by an ERC-grant. 🇪🇺

Wrapped up from our Discussion: Scholars should consider implementing this scale when analyzing news audiences, given its demonstrated functionality at identifying a previously invisible group: those who are alienated by the provision of news as they understand and experience it.

We also find that greater feelings of alienation are associated with negative outcomes. Despite consuming more news than their counterparts, people who believe news is not made for them also selectively avoid more news, get more knowledge questions incorrect, and believe more misinformation.

Using a panel survey in Brazil & UK, we see that people who feel the most alienated from news tend to be younger, lower SES, have lower news self-efficacy, greater interest in soft news, and have more attention problems. These findings highlight the overwhelming relentlessness of news cycles.

The News is Not Made for Me scale is an 8-item scale that investigates the growing gap between news providers and audiences as well as audience inequality gaps related to news use and benefits. It gets at what we call "agnostic" features of news - such as pace, language, and access.