Toff: Talking local journalism with the University of Minnesota

Minnesota Journalism Center director Benjamin Toff spoke with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities media team about the power of local journalism — and the recent relaunch of the MJC.

"Traditionally, people have a strong personal connection to sources of local news, whether it's individuals delivering the sports and weather on television or columnists who write about important civic matters in the newspaper." — Benjamin Toff

An excerpt: 

What sets local journalism apart from other news?

Toff: Local news consistently rates higher than national news in terms of how highly they are trusted because local sources are often seen as far less politically polarized. The issues and concerns that matter to people at the local level often do not line up with national news items and are in many cases more closely aligned with matters that are even more relevant to people's daily lives.

Traditionally, people have a strong personal connection to sources of local news, whether it's individuals delivering the sports and weather on television or columnists who write about important civic matters in the newspaper. There's historically been a neighborly connection that people tend to expect from local news that is less often found in larger outlets just by virtue of its distance from local communities.

How does local journalism impact communities?

Toff: Communities with local news coverage tend to have less corruption in their local governments and more civically engaged and informed communities. In short, people tend to know more about what their elected officials are doing on a day-to-day basis and those officials are more likely to be held accountable to the public for their actions.

Local news tends to be less polarized, offering their audience a strong sense of place and connection through community voices and multiple perspectives on community activities.

Not all local outlets have a great track record of serving their entire communities equitably or fairly, which can be quite alienating for marginalized community members. But at least in theory, this community connectedness role has often been recognized as one of the most important functions played by local news. ...

How can communities support local journalism?

Toff: You can support your local news outlets directly through subscriptions and donations. Another great way to support local journalists is through volunteer work. News outlets are more understaffed than ever, so passing along information about things happening in your community is often appreciated. Local journalists are trying to do far more with less and it is difficult to keep up.

Despite the challenging headwinds, there are many efforts by national and local philanthropic groups to develop alternative nonprofit models for local journalism, which is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the industry as we found in our Minnesota-focused research. Press Forward at the national level and Press Forward Minnesota represent ambitious efforts to inject new investments in local reporting. The American Journalism Project, Institute for Nonprofit News and LION (Local Independent Online News) also seek to bolster local news ecosystems.

Read the full story on the UMN-Twin Cities site.