Only about one fifth of Chicago residents pay subscriptions for or donate to local news, according to a MacArthur-supported survey of Chicago residents’ news consumption. In the report from Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative, 51 percent of respondents also said no one should pay for local news. The majority of respondents, 71 percent, believe that local news outlets are doing somewhat well or very well financially, even as the industry struggles, nationally losing 10 local news organizations a month.
The majority consume local news daily or multiple times a week, and they see value to their day-to-day lives in financial and health decisions, especially. And increasingly Chicagoans get their news on their smartphones (62 percent) than print (9 percent) or television (52 percent), which used to be the dominant news source. Respondents largely trust local news sources to get things right, and local media could more clearly communicate the need for financial support.
Funding for this report was made through our Journalism and Media grantmaking, and its research will support activity under our Local News strategy.
