After a long year, local news looks back and thinks forward The local news crisis can be tough to describe in national terms, because no two places are exactly the same. Though it’s been a difficult year for regional journalism, following a difficult decade, it’s a diverse media ecosystem, and though industry-wide challenges are rooted in similar trends, every outlet has faced battles of its own. “Local news” comprises many things: newspapers, public radio, television, blogs, newsletters, and—as CJR’s newest digital magazine highlights—pirate radio stations, text message chains, internet forums. Different outlets had different fates this year. Radio and television stations fared better than newspapers. Nonprofit publications of all mediums soared while many for-profit outlets foundered. Many communities lost a trusted source of information; others lost outlets that were already on the way out; and, as bears mentioning, some communities haven’t had a local news source for a long time. Still, there are many outlets that survived the year, providing their communities with valuable information. As vaccinations continue to spread across the US and local communities reopen businesses and events, local publications across the country are taking stock and trying to make sense of the past year as they look to the future.