'Local' is now the most common type of nonprofit news outlet in North America, research finds
A few years back, “single-subject nonprofit newsrooms” — sites like The Trace, The Marshall Project, and Chalkbeat — got lots of attention as one possible future for nonprofit news. Between 2008 and 2021, the number of single-subject nonprofit news sites quadrupled, the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) found. The niche was “fueled in part by success in attracting foundation support,” INN noted, adding that single-subject nonprofit newsrooms were much more likely than other types of nonprofit newsrooms to rely on foundation support.
Today, though, it’s local nonprofit news that’s seeing the fastest growth. INN said this week that, for the first time, “local news outlets make up the largest segment of the Institute for Nonprofit News’ member network”, accounting for 51% of its 500-plus members across North America.
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Along with this growth in local outlets, INN sees a larger share of newsrooms (52%) covering current news and events on a range of topics. While more than half of newsrooms in the INN Network still focus on deep, explanatory reporting, the proportion of outlets that focus exclusively on investigative news has declined, to 27%.The differences are most pronounced when compared over the eight years has tracked the field. In 2017, 39% of INN members focused primarily on investigative reporting, and 19% focused primarily on news and events.
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