How to find good local news in your area (when most of it has been gutted)
Local news has been gutted by chain ownership and ad collapse. Here's how to actually find quality local reporting that still exists.
Most US counties have lost their daily newspaper or seen it hollowed out under chain ownership since 2005. About 1,800 US counties have become “news deserts” with no daily newspaper at all. Good local journalism still exists — it’s just harder to find than it used to be.
1. Start with the nonprofit local-news directory
The Institute for Nonprofit News maintains a directory of 425+ nonprofit news outlets covering states, regions, and topics. Nonprofit funding insulates these outlets from the ad-collapse problem that gutted commercial local news. Start there.
2. Check Prism's state pages
Prism's state index lists the dominant outlets for each US state, including the rising nonprofit operations (Texas Tribune, Mississippi Today, VTDigger, Wisconsin Watch, etc.). Each state page links to live news from that state.
3. Find your local public radio station
Public-radio newsrooms have grown share in the local-news space as commercial newspapers shrank. NPR's station finder gets you to your local NPR member station, which typically has a working local newsroom. WAMU (DC), WBEZ (Chicago), KQED (SF), WBUR (Boston), MPR (Minnesota) are particularly strong.
4. Subscribe to the local nonprofit if there is one
If your area has a nonprofit local newsroom (check INN), subscribe. Nonprofits depend on reader support to keep reporters employed. A $5/month membership funds direct local journalism in a way no algorithm-fed feed can.
5. Don’t confuse Patch / hyperlocal for journalism
Patch.com, Nextdoor, and similar “hyperlocal” networks often have low or no actual reporting staff in a given town — they aggregate from sources, repackage press releases, and run on a thin editorial layer. Useful for some events; not a substitute for local journalism.
6. Use court records + city council livestreams + school board minutes
When the local paper is gone, the public records still exist. Most cities now livestream council meetings; most school boards post minutes. You don’t need a reporter to know what your local government is doing — you can watch directly. Hard, time-consuming, but possible.
7. Subscribe to a state-level outlet
Even if your county is a news desert, your state usually still has at least one capable statewide outlet (often the nonprofits listed on Prism's state pages). State-level reporting affects you more than national, and is easier to follow than every local issue.
Why this matters
Local journalism has well-documented effects: increases voter turnout, reduces local-government corruption, raises bond ratings (because watchdog reporting catches mismanagement), shapes school-board and city-council outcomes. The collapse of local news is one of the under-reported civic crises of the past 20 years.
Help fix it where you live. The nonprofit subscription is one of the highest-leverage civic actions any reader can take in 2026.
Related: Editorial independence · Media ownership · Fourth estate.