Medill’s State of Local News 2025 report once again captures the changing shape of America’s local news landscape — and the expanding concern over news deserts. The report, which is often viewed as the annual report card on local news, is a comprehensive tracking of 8,000 local outlets across the country and documenting how more than 200 counties now have no local news source at all, while another 1,500 rely on just one, often a weekly newspaper. For millions of Americans, especially across rural regions and small towns, access to reliable local information continues to erode.
To many, the report signals more trouble for the newspaper industry. In reality, it shows why local newspapers are more essential — and irreplaceable — than ever. While there are challenges facing local newspapers, they remain the backbone of the local news ecosystem and the one institution that consistently reaches communities left behind by other forms of media. According to the America’s Newspapers Trust in Media Study, 87 percent of Americans trust their local newspaper, and more than 80 percent consider it essential to their community.
The Medill report also highlights the rise of philanthropically funded and nonprofit digital startups — an important and growing part of the overall news ecosystem. These initiatives are making a difference and deserve recognition for the work they’re doing to support journalism. But despite hundreds of millions of dollars being invested and pledged, the problem isn’t decreasing — it’s widening. Most of that funding is flowing to urban areas and targeted audiences, areas often served by existing publications, leaving the communities most in need — those in Middle America — still underserved.
That imbalance points to the real lesson in Medill’s data: the fastest and most effective way to rebuild local news is to strengthen the local newspapers that already exist. They are embedded in their communities, employ professional journalists, and operate with established infrastructure and trust that can’t be replicated overnight.
When local newspapers succeed, communities stay informed, connected and engaged. When they fail, news deserts grow — and the civic health of entire regions fades with them.
The Medill report measures what has been lost. The takeaway is about what comes next. Local newspapers aren’t the past of local news — they are its foundation, and the most practical path forward for rebuilding trusted information in every community that still values truth and connection.
The future of our communities depends on the strength of our local newspapers. They are the storytellers who celebrate our milestones, the watchdogs who hold power to account and the glue that keeps neighbors connected. When we invest in them — by subscribing, advertising or through philanthropic support — we’re investing in ourselves. A thriving local newspaper means a stronger, more informed and more united community. The Medill report is a warning, but it’s also a call to action: if we want vibrant towns and cities that know themselves and care for one another, we must stand behind the newspapers that have always stood with us.
Dean Ridings is CEO of America's Newspapers.
