The News Ecosystem: Reaching an Audience With Vital Information

The U.S. news ecosystem has changed dramatically since the decline of print journalism and the increase in digital journalism, particularly as offered by social media. This research program focuses on whether communities receive the essential information needed to lead well-informed lives. While at the University of Minnesota, Matthew Weber and his colleagues looked at the news available on the home pages of local media outlets across 100 randomly sampled communities. In 2019, they analyzed data from Facebook’s Today In to determine whether it provided the critical information— emergencies and risks, health, education, transportation, and the environment and planning, for example — that local news customarily provided. Today In uses machine learning to identify local news stories across Facebook and displays them in a dedicated tab for users of the feature. The primary research findings were that local news aggregated by Facebook often covers critical information needs. In addition, interaction data indicated that there could be a demand for more of this type of content. In New Jersey, News Measures through its research and analyses seeks to energize efforts to support local journalism to ensure that the people of the state are well-informed. Although there are 779 news outlets in New Jersey, news deserts do exist.

ComLab Projects
The Community Media and Local Infrastructure Project: Examines mechanisms by which local community media and local infrastructure interconnect.
Return to Office and the Future of Work: This study will enhance understanding of how communication practices and information-seeking behaviors support employee uncertainty management strategies during an organizational change event (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic).

For more information visit https://comlab.rutgers.edu