In some New Jersey communities, residents can regularly find local news coverage of school board meetings, redevelopment debates, and elections. In others, that information is increasingly difficult to find.
A new Rutgers University–New Brunswick report analyzing more than 66,000 news articles published largely in 2024, along with additional data from 2025, found sharp disparities in how communities throughout the state are covered by local journalism.
The report, Understanding New Jersey’s Local News Landscape, examined content from 724 television, print, digital, and community media outlets to better understand not simply where news organizations exist, but which communities are consistently covered and how information is distributed throughout the state.
“What matters is not simply whether a media outlet exists,” said Matthew Weber, professor of communication at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information, director of the Computational Media Lab and the university’s representative on the board of the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium. “What matters is whether communities are actually receiving consistent coverage about the issues that shape everyday life.”
Researchers analyzed content from local newspapers, television stations, digital news organizations and community publications throughout New Jersey, using computational tools to identify locations, topics and broader coverage patterns.
Communities without reliable local news often experience lower civic engagement, weaker government accountability, and diminished public trust,” Weber said. “If nobody is consistently covering your town, your community becomes less visible.
As the lead author of the study, Weber said the analysis found that even in parts of the state with numerous nearby news organizations, residents didn’t always receive sustained reporting focused on local issues.
“One of the biggest surprises was that outlet density and actual coverage are not the same thing,” Weber said. “You can have media organizations physically located near a community and still not see sustained reporting about that place.”
The researchers noted New Jersey has experienced significant changes in its local media ecosystem in recent years. Between 2020 and 2025, researchers identified the loss of more than 100 local media outlets statewide.
Researchers said the expansion of networked digital outlets and broader regional reporting models means communities may technically fall within a news organization’s coverage area without receiving sustained local reporting. The report identified Patch and TAPinto among the networked outlets helping shape statewide coverage patterns.
News coverage throughout the state also was uneven geographically.
Weber said population size naturally influenced how much coverage communities received, but the study found population alone did not fully explain the differences. The analysis identified broader demographic patterns tied to where consistent local reporting occurred.
Weber said the study found communities with large Hispanic populations were less consistently covered by local news organizations. The dataset included Hispanic-oriented and Spanish-language media outlets as part of the broader local news ecosystem examined in the study. At the same time, communities with higher percentages of African American residents received more coverage than expected based on previous New Jersey research.
Researchers said the findings suggest some efforts to improve reporting in historically underserved communities may be having measurable effects.
At the extreme ends, cities such as Jersey City, Newark and Atlantic City received some of the highest levels of local news coverage in the state, while municipalities including Audubon Park and Hi-Nella in Camden County, Folsom in Atlantic County and Victory Gardens in Morris County received comparatively little sustained local reporting on government, schools and other community issues.
The analysis also suggested that ownership structure can shape the type and reach of local news coverage. Privately owned conglomerates and private equity-backed outlets generally produced broader regional coverage, while nonprofit, independent and university-affiliated organizations focused more heavily on local reporting.
For Weber, the implications extend beyond journalism itself. “Communities without reliable local news often experience lower civic engagement, weaker government accountability, and diminished public trust,” he said. “If nobody is consistently covering your town, your community becomes less visible.”
Weber said in communities with limited local reporting, residents may have less access to information about school board decisions, redevelopment projects, elections, infrastructure problems, and public safety issues.
Weber said in communities with limited local reporting, residents may have less access to information about school board decisions, redevelopment projects, elections, infrastructure problems, and public safety issues.
Those information gaps can affect civic participation and public trust over time, he said.
In addition, the report highlights unique challenges facing local journalism in New Jersey.
Positioned between the New York City and Philadelphia media markets, New Jersey faces challenges sustaining deeply local reporting despite its dense population and political significance, Weber said.
Business and economic reporting represented the largest share of coverage analyzed, while environmental, transportation, and health reporting appeared less frequently throughout the state’s local news ecosystem.
“The goal is to provide a clearer picture of where gaps exist so communities are not left invisible,” Weber said.
Weber said the findings highlight a need for stronger local information networks and more sustained civic reporting in communities receiving limited coverage. He said the analysis could help policymakers, media organizations, nonprofit groups, and local leaders better understand where information gaps exist and where investments, partnerships, and new reporting models may be needed most.
The report was produced by Rutgers University’s Computational Media Lab in collaboration with the Local News Impact Consortium and with support from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium.
Learn more about the Communication Department at the School of Communication and Information.
