4 Takeaways for Local News Leaders From a Study on News Consumption by U.S. Teens and Adults
The Media Insight Project released a nationally representative study of 1,092 adults and 1,009 teens that maps how U.S. news consumers across five age groups find, trust, and pay for news. Influencers dominate teen news diets (81% of 13‑17‑year‑olds), while older adults still lean on TV. Local outlets are still seen as the most useful source, yet confidence in any outlet remains modest. About 70% of respondents use a paid news product, but sharing of local newspaper subscriptions is rare.
Five Local News Organizations Receive API-Knight Grants to Deepen Youth Engagement
The American Press Institute, backed by the Knight Foundation, awarded a total of $20,000 in API‑Knight Youth Engagement grants to five local news organizations. Each grantee received up to $4,000 to pilot projects that embed youth perspectives into reporting, community...
What It Means to Be a Trauma-Informed Leader
Journalists routinely face direct and indirect trauma that can erode compassion, surge capacity, and mental health. The article urges newsrooms to adopt a proactive, trauma‑informed leadership model that builds relational currency and psychological safety before crises arise. It offers concrete...
Join Our API Local News Summit on Measuring Impact for Civic Discourse
The American Press Institute is hosting the API Local News Summit on June 23‑24 in Pittsburgh, gathering about 70 local‑media leaders to discuss how to measure and communicate impact on civic discourse. The invitation‑only, highly participatory event will explore innovative metrics...
How to Navigate Burnout
Burnout is a pervasive, work‑related stress response affecting roughly 70% of journalists, with women and younger staff reporting higher rates. The American Press Institute argues that self‑care alone cannot solve the problem because burnout is rooted in organizational culture. News...
Mental Well-Being in the Newsroom
The American Press Institute launched a May Special Edition series on newsroom mental well‑being, timed with Mental Health Awareness Month. The program offers a trio of webinars and practical guides for news leaders to recognize burnout, trauma, and to build...
Study Methodology
The Media Insight Project released a 2026 survey methodology report detailing a dual‑panel study of U.S. adults and teens. Data were collected via NORC’s AmeriSpeak Teen Omnibus (1,009 respondents) and AmeriSpeak Omnibus (1,092 respondents) between February 2‑16, 2026. The combined...
The Evolving News Landscape: Comparing Media Habits and Trust Between Teens and Adults
A new Media Insight Project study of 2,000+ Americans shows that influencers and independent creators have become a major news source for both teens and adults, with 57% of all respondents and 81% of teens getting news from them at...
Local News Is Essential to Civic Discourse — and Its Future Depends on Proving It
Local news is a cornerstone of healthy civic discourse, yet its value is often measured only by reach. The American Press Institute argues that civic signals—participation, contribution, connection, and action—better capture a newsroom’s impact on community decision‑making. To address this...
Prioritize Your Ballot and Polling Coverage
Newsrooms are urged to move beyond traditional "horse‑race" election coverage and prioritize the stakes of races and ballot measures. Editors should inventory local contests, assess community knowledge gaps, and assign coverage priority based on impact rather than historical habits. The...
Media Insight Project Adds Partners Ahead of New Report Release
Today the Media Insight Project announced two new academic partners—Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. The expansion bolsters the initiative’s ability to conduct rigorous, independent research on how audiences engage...
Tackling Misinformation and Political Labels
The American Press Institute urges newsrooms to scrutinize political labels and prepare for election‑season misinformation. It recommends pre‑defining label usage, auditing recent stories, and developing transparent style‑guide entries. The guide also advises creating boilerplate fact‑checks and tracking falsehood sources to...
On This First Local News Day, We Celebrate the Important Work of Our API Community
On April 9, American Press Institute (API) marked the inaugural Local News Day, with more than 1,300 U.S. local newsrooms participating. The initiative spotlights five core impact areas—information, accountability, community, empowerment, and trust—through real‑world examples such as election coverage in...
2026 Elections Season
The 2026 election cycle will decide control of the 120th Congress, roughly 300 state executive offices in 43 states, and hundreds of judicial, municipal and ballot‑measure contests. Eighty‑one statewide ballot measures will appear, tackling highly divisive issues. Recognizing the resource...
7 Steps to Redefine Youth Involvement in Local News Operations
The article outlines seven practical steps for local newsrooms to shift from superficial youth participation to genuine integration of youth perspectives, emphasizing small, measurable actions within existing constraints. It stresses embedding youth input in decision‑making, turning feedback into outcomes, and...