Create a Master List of News Outlets and Organizations
After deciding what types of media/organizations/content you intend to include in your census, the next task is to assemble a master list of relevant news outlets in your chosen geographic area.
This is not necessarily a straightforward task. No single complete list is likely to already exist (though in some locales there may be exceptions). Your master list will likely need to be assembled from various sources. It will be useful to cross-check information from one resource against information provided in others, as the information in any one place may not be complete or up to date. In this section, we focus first on the steps that are easiest and least resource-intensive.
The Impact Architects’ “playbook” for conducting information ecosystem analysis suggests some essential starting places for creating a master list of local news outlets:
- The State of Local News Project maintains a database of newspapers and other news outlets in each state. While this database is an essential starting place for mapping local news in your geographic area, be aware that it may not reflect all local news outlets, both because of changes in the local news landscape over time, and because it is challenging for non-locally based researchers to identify all outlets across an entire state or region.
- In addition, the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) network directory lists over 500 independent nonprofit newsrooms around the country, vetted for editorial independence, financial transparency, and original reporting.
- The Center for Community Media’s Maps and Directories page lists a number of additional state-level directories, including ethnic media in specific geographic locales.
Beyond these foundational resources, other resources for identifying local media in your area may include state government agencies. Some states maintain a list of newspapers; in Oregon, for example, it’s the Secretary of State’s “Oregon Blue Book.”
A number of other resources exist for identifying television and radio stations in your locale. Local broadcast stations can be identified using the Corporation for Public Broadcasting “member finder” station lists. The National Federation of Community Broadcasters’ Member Map shows member stations throughout North America. Because the number of TV stations in any locale is relatively small compared with local newspapers, it is relatively easy to simply do a manual search for all statewide broadcast network affiliate stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and Fox), as well as local Univision and Telemundo stations where applicable. Local satellite stations can be found using the FCC’s geographic search. Media Cloud includes a free, searchable listing of state-level news outlets, and although as of this writing the database did not appear to be up to date, it could provide another starting place.
Additional Publicly Available Resources:
- ABYZ News Links
- Library of Congress’s Newspaper Directory
- Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION) Current Members list
- National Newspaper Association’s Member Map
- onlinenewspapers.com
- Local associations of newspapers, broadcasters, etc., which may provide public membership listings
Additional Resources Available for a Fee:
- Editor & Publisher International Yearbook: Contains a section dedicated to “community” newspapers (print and digital).
- Cision
- Prowly
- BIA/Kelsey
- tveyes.com
If these resources aren’t working for your locale or seem incomplete, there may be a Wikipedia entry on newspapers/media in your state or city—though that would need to be double checked for accurate and up to date information, and may not include all outlets. Researchers can also do Google searches (e.g. “News about XXX”). Online sources like Wikipedia may also have relevant lists, though of course these lists would need vetting for accuracy and should not necessarily be considered complete.
Just as no complete master list of local news outlets in your area is likely to already exist, available lists of non-English news outlets may be limited, incomplete, and/or require additional vetting.
Researchers should also be aware of any significant non-English speaking populations in your state, and conduct searches using that language (e.g. “periodico Springfield”). For example, the National Association of Hispanic Publications has a member list, though it includes a variety of publications beyond traditional newspapers. The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism published The State of Latino News Media in 2019; those data are now dated but could provide a useful starting place as well.
Making sure your newsroom census includes non-English language news outlets can be especially challenging, as these outlets may be under-resourced, have limited circulation, or perhaps have no online presence. CUNY’s Center for Community Journalism has some directories that may prove helpful (https://www.journalism.cuny.edu/centers/center-community-media/).
This work may require supplementing internet searches with outreach to local institutions and organizations. For example, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists maintains a directory of local chapters, one of which might be able to help you identify Spanish language media in your locale. Local universities with journalism departments and local civic organizations may be able to help connect you with linguistic and other minority media in your state.
Another way to build out a master list to identify smaller outlets is to conduct surveys or hold interviews, focus groups, or community workshops where people can volunteer the names of local sources they pay attention to. This can be especially helpful for identifying small print publications, hyper-local news sites, and community social media sites that people turn to for local news and information (see Overview of Approaches to Analyzing Local News above).
Finally, it’s important to note that comparing and de-duplicating various lists of outlets that your research may generate can be time-consuming and must be done carefully.
Try to implement strict version control protocols (i.e. make sure everyone is working on the same list) by keeping your data in Google docs, Airtable, or some other platform that is accessible by everyone involved and automatically updates with any changes. We also recommend noting where you learned about each outlet – particular for any that lack a digital presence – in case the information needs to be checked or verified later.
CONTINUE READING: STEP 4: Gather Data on Outlets in the Master List >
