Local News: Journalism's Forgotten Love Child

George Washington University professor Matthew Hindman authored a report for the FCC’s quadrennial review of broadcast ownership regulations.

His findings, crudely put: No one really goes to local news sources.

The big picture is that there is little evidence in this data that the Internet has expanded the number of local news outlets. And while the Internet adds only a pittance of new sources of local news, the surprisingly small audience for local news traffic helps explain the financial straits local news organizations now face.

According to the report, average per capita monthly page views is an anemic 11.4 while monthly time on site barely tops nine minutes.

What say you, Patch and your estimated $120 million invested in local news this year?

The report can be downloaded here (PDF). Nikki Usher analyses the findings at Nieman Lab.