Journalism is under threat.
Universities can help.

Over the past 20 years, the U.S. has lost 1/3 of its newspapers.

Source: Medill, State of Local News 2024

55 million Americans have little to no local news access, living in a county with zero or only one local newspaper.

Source: Medill, State of Local News 2024

Since 2002, the number of working journalists has dropped by 75%

Source: Muck Rack - Rebuild Local News, Local Journalist Index 2025

We believe that universities can play a vital role in revitalizing local news.

Over 1,400 colleges and universities are located in or near news desert counties.

Explore the interactive map below to see the powerful potential of news-academic partnerships.

The Center for Community News is dedicated to growing and supporting partnerships between college reporting programs and local news outlets. In 2024, over 5,000 student reporters in university-led programs published more than 26,000 stories in local news outlets last year.

Use the map to explore universities and the communities they serve by comparing variables such as poverty rate, educational attainment, and civic information with school data on enrollment, endowments, and more.

227

news-academic partnerships

172

participating institutions

1,400

schools in or near news deserts



Do you have a news-academic partnership to share? Get in touch to be added to our database.


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Legend

number of outlets in or adjacent to campus county

(red and orange are little to no local news access)

Endowment size


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