NewsBeat

May 2023 NewsBeat 22 By RICHARD WATTS Student reporters fill crucial gap in state government coverage T he local news business is in crisis. The nation is currently losing two community newspapers a week, on average, and 70 million Americans live in news deserts, communities with little or no local news coverage. In much of the remaining territory, all that's left are decimated newsrooms and advertisement-heavy publications with little local news, sometimes called "ghost papers." The problem is even more acute when it comes to covering the nation's statehouses. The total number of full- time statehouse reporters declined by 6% from 2014 to 2022. Yet state leg- islatures handle key issues, including abortion rights, voting rights and edu- cational curriculum standards. Where full-time staff reporters have disappeared, university-led statehouse reporting programs have stepped in, ac- cording to research from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Pew Research Center. More than 10% of statehouse reporters are students, and in some states they are a significant presence in the statehouse media corps. Journalism boosts democracy An informed citizenry is vital to a thriving democracy. Researchers have found strong ties between the avail- ability of local news and community engagement, voting participation and number of candidates running for local office. Less local news leads to in- creased polarization and higher munic- ipal government costs to taxpayers as accountability reporting declines. Statehouse reporting programs are part of a larger commitment by uni- versities to connect student education with local news needs. Through classes, newsrooms and media collaborations, these programs give students essential opportunities to use skills they have learned in classrooms – and provide badly needed local news coverage. Emerging scholarship finds partner- ships between news outlets and uni- versities are effective at both teaching students and serving the public. I lead a national effort to document these programs around the country as part of the Center for Community News. As of early 2023, we had cat- aloged more than 120 programs in which university-led student reporting is contributing to local news coverage. Among those, we found 20 instances of university-coordinated statehouse reporting, covering 19 states; Florida has two. How the programs operate These programs are not internships but statehouse reporting bureaus led by veteran journalists who assign, edit, and vet student work to ensure it meets ethical and professional standards. Once ready for publication, the stu- dents' work is shared with media plat- forms around the state, almost always free of charge. During 2022, about 250 student reporters produced more than 1,000 stories for 1,200 media outlets across 17 states. The remaining two states' programs, in Texas and Ver- mont, started in 2023. Under professional direction, stu- dent reporters are producing important state-government stories across the country. For example, at the University of Mis- As of early 2023, we had cataloged more than 120 programs in which university-led student reporting is contributing to local news coverage.

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