LNIC Research Reports

Newsroom Census/Ecosystem Mapping Toolkit

Regina Lawrence, Research Director at the Agora Journalism Center
November 2025 | Download Report (PDF)

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

MAPPING YOUR LOCAL NEWS ECOSYSTEM

CONCLUSION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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Appendix

Brown, J. M., Powell, T., Lebos, J. L., & Roetman, S. L. (2023). Georgia news landscape analysis. The Pivot Fund. Retrieved from: https://thepivotfund.org/georgia-news-landscape

COLab Colorado News Collaborative. (2022). Colorado News Mapping Project. COLab Colorado News Collaborative. Retrieved from: https://colabnews.co/colorado-news-mapping-project/ 

Finken, D. A., Irwin, D., Hale, S. C., Hughes, L., Lisosky, J., Rikerd, C., Snider, L., Whitley, L., & Wilhelm, S. (2023). The decline of local news and its impact on democracy. League of Women Voters of Washington. Retrieved from: https://lwvwa.org/resources/Documents/Studies/LocalNews/Decline%2036.pdf

Green-Barber, L., Chang, A., & Garcia McKinley, E. (2024). Wyoming Local News & Information Ecosystem. Impact Architects. Retrieved from: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/612cf94ffbc47a4a3ec687af/t/
673fa7fe8783ca5ff199ba87/1732225050135/Ecosystem_Wyoming

Hazeldine, C., Thompson, E., Williams, C., & Mahone, J. (2019). Local news for whom? A news media census of North Carolina. UNC Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media. Retrieved from: https://www.cislm.org/research/nc-news-information-census/

Henrichsen, J. R., Popiel, P., Chambers, E., Fil, A., Robinson-Tay, K., Waananen Jones, L., Lisosky, J., Thomas, R. J., Brannon, J., & Shors, B. (2025). From news deserts to nonprofit resilience: Assessing the health of Washington’s local news ecosystem. The Edward Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University. Retrieved from: https://news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu/ecosystem-report/ 

Lawrence, R. G. & DeVigal, A. (2025). Assessing Oregon’s local news & information ecosystem 2025. Agora Journalism Center. 

Listening Post Collective. (2021). California’s Inland Empire: Information ecosystem assessment. The Listening Post Collective by Internews. Retrieved from: https://internews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/LPC_Inland_Empire_IEA-web.pdf

LOR Foundation. (2024). Special report: Montana’s media landscape. LOR Foundation. Retrieved from: https://lorfoundation.org/reports/special-report-montanas-media-landscape/

Mahone, J., Wang, Q., Napoli, P., Weber, M., & McCollough, K. (2019). Who’s producing local journalism? Assessing journalistic output across different outlet types. DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy. Retrieved from: http://dewitt.sanford.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/08/Whos-Producing-Local-Journalism_FINAL.pdf

Rosenstiel, T., Zremski, J., Lev-Tov, J., Dayanim, N., McQuaid, J., Pulwer, L. (2024). Maryland local news ecosystem study. Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g8LHk_sP2TuQ3wYKBATYJOeQF3KefwEh/view 

Soular, D. A., & Bernal, D. M. (2021). Southern New Mexico news & information ecosystem assessment. New Mexico Local News Fund. Retrieved from: https://www.nmlocalnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Southern-New-Mexico-Report.pdfToff, B. (2024). Minnesota’s local news ecosystem report 2024. Minnesota Journalism Center. Retrieved from: https://newsmap.umn.edu/minnesotas-local-news-ecosystem-report-2024

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

MAPPING YOUR LOCAL NEWS ECOSYSTEM

CONCLUSION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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About this report

This report is a collaboration between the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and the Local News Impact Consortium (LNIC), a collaborative initiative of the research community to establish best practices, common standards, and shared tools and methods for studying the health of local information ecosystems. It was written by Regina Lawrence, the Interim Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication in Portland. A nationally recognized authority on political communication, civic engagement, gender and politics, and the role of media in public discourse about politics and policy, Regina also serves on the LNIC Steering Committee and Newsroom Census working group. 

Whether you’re a researcher, journalist, or funder, the LNIC invites you to join our mission to help ensure local communities have access to trustworthy news and information. Learn more about the LNIC >

Creative Commons License

The LNIC is an open-source initiative to rebuild sustainable, data-driven local news ecosystems. This license enables reusers of this report to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms. CC BY-NC-SA includes the following elements:

  • BY: Credit must be given to the creator.
  • NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.
  • SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.

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