• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, May 30, 2024

Experts trying to gauge local news consumption might do well to study specific communities instead of the whole country. 

That’s what the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University did with its new study: “The Medill survey: How the Chicago area gets its news,” supported by the MacArthur Foundation.  

Why Chicago? It is one of the biggest cities in America, but the 14-county metropolitan area extends from Kenosha in Wisconsin to suburban Indiana, comprising the country’s third-largest media market.  

Thus, Chicago serves a “useful microcosm for news organizations across the country,” the study states.

Medill surveyed 1,004 people in the Chicago area in January and February 2024. 

Of those, only 19% pay or donate money for access to local reporting. And 51% say no one should pay for local news. But even fewer pay or donate to national news publications—16%.

Willingness to pay differs by age: 29% of those in the 60+ group pony up, compared to 16% in the 18-29 cohort.  

Another factor is education: people with postgraduate or professional degrees are way more likely to pay than those with less than a high school diploma.

Print continues its severe decline: 9% now read printed newspapers, and a mere 4% do so all the time.  

Still, 31% check out national news multiple times a day while 24% consume local news. And 29% apiece do so once a day in each category. 

Consumption also depends on age. For instance, 62% of those in the 60+ age category consume local news on a daily basis, versus 39% of people in the 18-29 category. 

The 60+ group is also more likely to favor television—66% turn to it at least once per day, compared to 22% in the 18-29 group and 49% of Gen Xers. 

The main delivery mechanism is the smartphone. The respondents use these channels all the time: 

• Smartphone—38% 
• Television—29% 
• Radio—10%
• Desktop or laptop—10% 
• Tablet—7% 
• Printed newspaper or magazine—4% 
• Smart speaker—4%

In addition, they consume local news in these channels:

• Search engines—28% 
• Local TV stations—21% 
• Social media groups and pages—21%
• Friends and family—13% 
• Local radio stations or local news podcasts—11% 
• Email newsletters—8%
• Local newspapers—7%
• Digital-only local news websites—7% 

Why do people turn to local news? They say:

• It helps me save or manage my money—60% 
• It helps me stay healthy—52% 
• It helps me decide where I stand on things—34% 
• It helps me in my job—33%
• It helps me find places to go and things to do—32% 
• It helps me solve problems—27% 
• It helps me feel connected to my community—15%
• It helps me take action to address issues I care about—12% 
• It helps me raise my family—10% 
• It helps me stay informed to be a better citizen—10% 
• I find it enjoyable or entertaining—8% 
• I like to talk to friends, family and collagues about what’s going on in the news—4%