American Press Institute

Local news has become remarkably confident in measuring what it publishes and produces, but a bit less certain about measuring what it changes. Sam Ragland speaks at the recent API Local News Summit in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Lilly Chapa) Instead of trying to figure it out alone, 70 news practitioners from across business models, disciplines and roles convened in Pittsburgh alongside researchers, community organizers, educators and philanthropists. Together, at this American Press Institute Local

This week’s action: Make one high-value coverage area easier to find or use. In today’s fractured media landscape, people seek news from local and national media outlets, as well as AI chatbots and independent creators, according to the latest research from the Media Insight Project. This month we’re making the study, which surveyed both adults and teens as young as 13, actionable for local news leaders. What the survey says: The largest portion of U.S. adult and teen survey respondents (41%) sa

Building on two years of work with the American Press Institute, the AP Fund for Journalism is now bringing Metrics for News to 10 local newsrooms and laying the groundwork to measure audience impact across a growing national network. The fund was created to help strengthen and sustain local public service journalism nationwide by providing newsroom partners with AP journalism and resources to support their reporting and grow their audiences.  Metrics for News helps publishers understand what, w

This week’s action: Add an element to a story that communicates the reporting process. Trust in any source of news isn’t a given, according to the latest research from the Media Insight Project. This month we’re making the study, which surveyed both adults and teens as young as 13, actionable for local news leaders. What the survey says: The majority of Americans say local news outlets and independent creators or influencers do similarly well at verifying and getting the facts right, being trans

This week’s action: Identify one local creator your newsroom could learn from. What the survey says: A majority of American teens and adults (57%) get news from “influencers” or “independent creators” at least sometimes. Among teens ages 13-17, that number jumps to 81%. Other popular sources of news that U.S. teens and adults turn to at least daily: television or streaming services (46%), digital news sites (41%) and social media (37%). Search engines or the radio are also places about a quarter

Mabruk Alam, a high school student at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Fla., said when he unlocks his phone screen, he’s often flooded with personality-driven clips –– quick excerpts of longer videos. As he scrolls through the social media feed, he might encounter a 40-second breakdown of a global conflict sandwiched between a rising dance trend and a “get ready with me” video. For Alam, news isn’t a destination; it’s an endless encounter –– a connection to a personable creato

This week’s action: Design coverage for younger audiences, not just about them. What the survey says: About 7 in 10 American teens and adults regularly use a paid news service or product. More than half (56%) pay for or donate to the news sources themselves, while 23% use a service paid for by somebody else, and 12% both pay for news and use a news product paid for by someone else. It’s Americans ages 18-34 — not teens — who are the least likely (54%) to use a paid news service, either paid for

When it comes to the question of how to attract younger audiences to local news, it’s like the movie Groundhog Day: We return to the question over and over, but don’t seem to have a solution. But if you want to know how to reach teens and young adults, ask young journalists and the folks who work with them.  All the teens we spoke to for this article have participated in a youth journalism program: ThreeSixty Journalism and the Center for Broadcast Journalism in Minnesota, VOX ATL in Atlanta, WH

Cybersecurity major. Self-taught pianist. Female welder. Found family drama troupe. A city’s rare Westpoint acceptance. A $72,500 tally in HBCU band scholarships. Sumter’s youth are exceptional, and they always have been. But these stories weren’t always reflected in the news. Their accomplishments passed uncelebrated by their wider community. It isn’t just democracy and those other all-encompassing values that die in darkness. When, as Arthur Brisbane alluded, a newspaper is a defective mirror

There is a growing awareness in local journalism of the importance of engaging youth in our communities — as reporters and as the next generation of civically engaged news consumers. The newsrooms that have stepped up to meet that need are doing vital work, often with scarce resources and in fierce competition for a limited pool of journalism funding. And although interest may be growing, funding to expand youth engagement in local news is unlikely to come from the journalism sector alone. Youth

Has it ever been more important for young people to understand the news of their own community — to grow into informed, engaged, voting citizens? We don’t think so. And that urgency is exactly what drove us to build Lookout in the Classroom. What began four years ago as a conversation with educators has grown into something none of us fully anticipated. Today, more than 10,000 students and 450 teachers across Santa Cruz County engage with local journalism through Lookout in the Classroom.

Ask a room full of journalists where they got their start, and many point to the same place: a high school classroom, an inspiring adviser, a first byline in a student newspaper. This was my story. I used my high school newspaper clips to land an internship at my hometown paper; those clips, in turn, paved the way to a national newsroom internship. It is a well-trodden path, but it requires that the first rung of the ladder actually exists. Today, for too many students that first rung has been r

Youth engagement is happening in local newsrooms across the country and through that engagement, trust is being built. When young people see or benefit from local news — in their classrooms or extracurricular activities — it’s likely they’ll feel more connected to their community and have a positive association with local media. The civic stakes are high because of this — but the stakes are also high for the sustainability of news. Amid challenges to news organizations’ capacity, how might news

This week’s action: Show why one recurring coverage area matters. What the survey says: American teens and adults view local news as most trustworthy, though few Americans have a great deal of confidence in any of the four news sources in the study — local news, national news, independent creators and AI chatbots. Older Americans tend to have greater trust in traditional news organizations. In contrast, younger Americans show similar levels of confidence in both traditional outlets and newer sou

Welcome to our June Special Edition Series on how local newsrooms can adapt to changing news habits. This week’s action: Show why one recurring coverage area matters. The latest study from the Media Insight Project, The evolving news landscape: Comparing media habits and trust between teens and adults, offers valuable insights on where people turn for news, who they trust and what information they seek out (or avoid). And it’s unique in that it surveyed both adults and teens as young as 13. The

This week’s action: In one conversation or meeting, practice being a host instead of a hero. Psychological safety — the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up with your ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes — is often framed as a workplace well-being concept. But it also shapes how teams collaborate and how organizations build trust with their communities. Psychological safety within the newsroom can encourage people to ask for help, surface new ideas or challenge assu

Summary The senior staff accountant is responsible for supporting the financial operations of the American Press Institute, a 501(c)(3) foundation, that supports the News/Media Alliance association, a 501(c)(6). This role manages day-to-day accounting functions, ensures compliance with nonprofit accounting standards and assists with financial reporting, contract management, budgeting and audit preparation. Working closely with the chief financial officer, the senior staff accountant is responsib

Understanding where people turn for news, who they trust and what information they seek out (or avoid) is crucial for developing strategies to reach Americans across generations and differences with the information they need in their daily lives. Additionally, knowing what young news consumers value is especially important for the sustainability of local news. It’s also essential to the health of our democracy because local news can often serve as an on-ramp to civic engagement. The latest study

The American Press Institute, with support from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, awarded $20,000 in  grants to five news organizations to support projects that engage youth through news coverage, community listening or outreach. This challenge fund is designed to strengthen ideas and experiments discussed at API’s Local News Summit on Youth Trust and Civic Resilience, which was held in March. This summit, one of three API is hosting this year, explored how local media can develop stra

This week’s action: Choose one relational action to try out. Journalists in every role may experience direct and indirect trauma on the job. Your compassion may fatigue. Your surge capacity may empty. Your interactions inside your newsroom may trigger an intergenerational trauma response. Your sight line into both business and editorial decisions could, at times, be morally injurious. And yet, most journalists have been called into this service, or have found themselves developing a call that st