• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, March 1, 2011

When it comes to local news and information, social media such as Facebook and Twitter -- as well as mobile devices -- are helping Americans connect to their communities and join in civic life, according to a new report.

The rise of the Internet and social networks is a key reason that people feel that local news media -- despite the industry's financial woes -- are doing a good job, per a study by the Monitor Institute and Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The findings were based on surveys, conducted last November in three cities -- San Jose, Calif., Philadelphia and Macon, Ga. -- aimed at assessing how well local media and information systems were serving citizens. In addition to being generally satisfied, many say they are getting more local information now than they did five years ago.

"There have been vast changes in the local news and information landscape in recent years," stated Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project and author of the study. "One of the key insights here is that citizens have new ways to assess the performance of City Hall." 

Technology is helping provide those tools. Nearly one-third (32%) of residents turn to social sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to stay updated on local matters, 19% to blogs, 12% to smartphones and other mobile devices, and 7% to Twitter.

People in the three cities also used the same online services to share information. So 32% of Internet users have posted updates and local news on social sites, 17% of Internet users have commented on issues through a local news site, 14% discuss local issues, 12% have posted on blogs and 6% on Twitter.

The study also found that broadband users are more likely to be critical of city hall or other aspects of community life. "This suggests that those citizens with broadband expect -- but don't always find -- information from their governments, schools and other local civic organizations there where they want it when they want it," noted Tony Siesfeld, head of research for the Monitor Institute.

That suggests broadband is raising the bar on information transparency, he added. The Pew Internet Project estimates that 79% of U.S. adults use the Internet and 67% have broadband connections at home.

Despite their unhappiness with local institutions, broadband users are still tuned in: People with high-speed Internet connections at home are more likely to use the Web for civic activities to talk about local issues.

No surprise: the Monitor-Pew study concluded that the local news and information ecosystem is fracturing as newer forms of communication and mobile devices gain wider use.

That doesn't mean traditional media is dead. Overall, print newspapers and magazines and television were deemed the most important sources for general information about the community and residents' neighborhoods. When it came to looking up topics of special interest or finding personally relevant information, like checking job listings, the Internet came out on top.

The emergence of sites like Groupon and Yelp and location-based services such as Foursquare and Facebook Places highlight the growing demand for local information and commerce online. But with newspapers and TV still ranking ahead of the Web for finding out what's happening locally, there's still ground for these online and mobile outlets to make up against incumbent media.

That also goes for how the Internet is perceived. In relation to news coverage, nearly three-quarters (74%) of survey participants said local TV stations were doing an excellent or good job and almost 70% said the same about local radio stations and newspapers. That compares to 50% who said Web sites focused on local affairs were doing an excellent or good job.