ABSTRACT
Local news in the United States is threatened by forces beyond its control – a financial climate that no longer supports advertising-driven news production, a fragmented audience, and multi-media, multi-content environments demanded by both consumers and investors. In recent decades it has been local newspapers that have bared the brunt of these assaults. Within this turmoil, however, a more complex and nuanced understanding of American local newspapers is required. This chapter offers this understanding by focusing on what we call the silent majority of newspapers: those with a circulation of under 50,000. Representing 97 percent of all regularly published newspapers in the country, these ‘small-market newspapers’ are often neglected or omitted from the popular narrative of the newspaper industry. Remedying this omission, our chapter draws on in-depth interviews and a nationwide survey to investigate the state of small-market newspapers in the US. In the midst of very real challenges facing the industry, we found a community of editors and journalists optimistic – or at least not as pessimistic as one might think – about the future of their industry. Three themes account for this optimism: diversified revenue streams, digital experimentation, and the enduring mission of local newspapers.1
