From bad to worse: 2026 is shaping up to be “a super El Niño year for local news”
Culture Index
Score Breakdown
Relevance
3/25
Freshness
25/25
Authority
18/20
Brand Signal
6/15
Depth
6/15
5-Axis Cultural Radar
If you thought last year was bleak, Medill’s annual State of Local News Report is here to ring the alarm bell louder. What was a “creeping erosion” has now “mushroomed into a full-blown super El Niño-like event for local news, leaving widespread and long-lasting displacement in its wake,” writes Tim Franklin, founding director of the...
