According to the Medill School at Northwestern University the news environment in Connecticut is relatively healthy when compared with trends across the country.
Medill released the findings of its annual survey on the news business last month. In general, the report finds that philanthropy is keeping many non-profit news sites alive, but when it comes to for profit news organizations - especially newspapers - the trend continues on a downward spiral with as many as two local newspapers folding each week.
Just last month, the Winsted Citizen was forced to close after being in publication as a non-profit for close to a year.
The Medill report, which is available online, includes several interactive maps showing news coverage nationwide. Except for north central Connecticut, which has been historically claimed as the territory of the Manchester based Journal Inquirer, Connecticut is served well by local newspaper, digital news sites, ethnic publications and public broadcasting. Although not included in the Medill report, we should point out that Connecticut is served by five different television news outlets and one regional cable network.
Bottom Line: Although national publications like the New York Times and Axios are thriving in the current news environment, no one seems to have cracked the code when it comes to the health of local news coverage. Many news organizations are still in business, but the overall trend is headed in the wrong direction in many parts of the country.
This means there is a need for new approaches to influencing debate over issues of public concern that are less reliant on traditional news media.