Sample Survey Questions 

We compiled two different sets of questions below that were used in the 2024 Washington Local News Landscape Survey  and the 2025 University of Minnesota Survey.

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2024 Washington Local News Landscape Survey

Hello, may I speak with [name].

My name is [INT]. I’m calling to ask you for your help with a very important research project being conducted by the Washington State University Murrow College of Communication to find out what challenges local news outlets are facing and what can be done to help. This project aims to create a public database for anyone to use to support local news organizations thrive.

To that end, I am hoping for your help in filling out the survey, but from what I understand you manage several different news outlets. The survey should take about 10 minutes. Would you be willing to take the survey for each of your news outlets, or perhaps delegate some of the surveys to someone at those outlets who would be knowledgeable about the topics?

[additional information]

• This brief survey is part of a Washington State University study assessing Washington’s current local news landscape.
• The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, and consists of 14 questions about your news organization’s reporting and business structure.
• A report on the study will be shared with the Washington State Legislature in order to identify potential gaps and challenges to providing local news in the state and provide recommendations for policymakers to support local news in Washington. The findings will also be made publicly available.
• If you have any questions about the study, please contact the Washington News Ecosystem Project’s Research Director, Dr. Jennifer Henrichsen at murrow.news.ecosystem@wsu.edu. If you have a question about your rights as a research participant, please contact irb@wsu.edu. This study has been certified as Exempt by the WSU Human Research Protection Program. IRB # 20421.

Before we begin, I need to let you know that this survey is completely voluntary and confidential.  If we come to any questions you prefer not to answer, just let me know and we will skip over them. First…

Q1: What is your news organization’s name?

Q2: Does your organization serve communities in Washington state?

1. Yes
2. No

Q3: What is your news organization’s medium?  Would you say it is . . .

1. A newspaper, either print, digital or both?
2. An online only publication, such as a digital only newspaper or digital native outlet?
3. A television station?
4. A radio station?
5. A magazineP
6. Or, something else?  Please specify:_______________________________
7. Don’t know or unsure

Q4: How would you describe the ownership type of your news organization? Is it . . .

1. Privately owned by a family?
2. Privately owned by a hedge fund or non-journalism company?
3. Locally or community-owned? If yes, skip to Q5a.
4. A non-profit (e.g., a 501c organization)? If yes, skip to Q5a.
5. Or something else? Please specify:_______________________________
6. Don’t know or unsure? Skip to Q5a.

Q4.1: How would you describe the ownership structure of your news organization? Is it a . . .

1. Single company
2. National chain, such as a private company with multiple holdings in and outside of Washington
3. Or a regional chain such as a private company with multiple holdings in Washington
4. Don’t know or unsure

Q5a:  [IF NEWSPAPER, ONLINE, MAGAZINE] What is your news organization’s circulation?

1. Do you have print circulation?
   1. If yes, what is your print circulation?  _______________
   2. No
2. Do you have digital circulation?
   1. If yes, what is your digital circulation?  _______________
   2. No

 Q5b: [IF TELEVISION, RADIO] What is your organization’s audience size (e.g., # of viewers or listeners)?

 Q6: What is your organization’s annual operating budget? Would you say . . .

1. Less than $250,000
2. $250,000 to $499,000
3. $500,000 to $999,000
4. $1,000,000 to $5,000,000
5. Or greater than $5,000,000
6. Don’t know or not sure

 Q7: Now I’d like to ask what is your news organization’s staff size?

1.  How many part-time editorial staff, including freelance staff, contributors, and volunteers do you have?
2. How many full-time editorial staff, including staff involved in reporting, editing, production, or distribution of news do you have?
3. What is the total number of editorial, business, and other staff?

Q9:  What STATE and/or LOCAL coverage do your organization’s journalists cover? I’m going to read a list of topics.  For each one, please tell me if your organization covers that topic at the state level and at the local level or not.

Q10. Some news organizations have reported experiencing negative events, ranging from mild to severe, that have led to security or safety concerns. Have the editorial staff at your organization experienced any of the following security or safety issues during the past five years? Select all that apply:

• Online harassmentDoxxing
• Hacking
• Surveillance
• Physical intimidation or abuse
• Disinformation campaigns
• Other, please specify:______________________
• None
• Don’t know or unsure

Q11: Does your news organization serve a specific community? Select all that apply:

• It serves a general audience
• Professional community (e.g., small business owners, farmers, tech workers)
• Non-English speaking community (e.g., Spanish, Vietnamese)Ethnic or racial community (e.g., Latinx)
• Religious community
• Cultural community (e.g., LGBTQ+)
• Other, please specify:______________________

Q12: How often does your organization publish or broadcast news?

1.  Daily
2. Triweekly (three times per week)
3. Semi-weekly (two times  per week)
4. Weekly
5. Biweekly (every two weeks)
6. Monthly
7. Quarterly
8. It varies

Q13: What is your role in your news organization?

Q14: Would you be willing to talk more in depth about your organization with a researcher on our team in the next few months?

1. Yes
2. No

Q15: Please enter your name and contact information so a researcher can contact you.
You have the option to remain anonymous in the report if you so choose, and the information you share here will not be linked to your future responses.

• Name:
• Email:
• Phone:

We thank you for your time spent taking this survey.  Your response has been recorded.

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2025 University of Minnesota Survey Staffing Questions

Next, we’d like to ask some questions about the staff at the [publication]**. 

Q1: How many paid staff members work full-time exclusively for the [publication]? 

Q2: How many paid staff members work full-time but split their hours between the [publication] and one or more other outlets? 

Q3: How many paid staff members work part-time for the [publication]?

Q4: Thinking about the paid staff members who spend some portion of their time with the [publication], about how many full-time equivalents (FTE) does this add up to? You may include fractional numbers/decimals if relevant. 

Q5: Thinking about what you reported for the total number of full-time paid staff members as well as full-time equivalents (FTE) who work for the [publication], what is the approximate percentage of their time spent contributing directly to news (such as through reporting, editing, or production roles)? 

Q6: Thinking about additional contributors to the [publication]’s operations, how many are…  (Please enter your best estimate of the total number per year.) 

• Paid freelancers? 
• Volunteers?
• Student interns?

Q8: What is the approximate percentage of the paid staff of the [publication] who are non-white/anglo? (Please enter a number between 0 and 100.) 

**In the survey, the unit of analysis was each newspaper, but owners can answer the survey for up to five newspapers.