On July 30, 2025, university-based journalism programs continued to expand their reach into U.S. “news deserts”—regions with little to no local news coverage. Spearheading this effort is the University of Vermont’s Community News Service (CNS), which now operates in multiple communities across the state. Since its founding in 2019, CNS has mobilized student reporters, supervised by professional editors, to deliver coverage of local government, education, civic events, and environmental issues in areas underserved by traditional news outlets.
These programs are part of a growing national trend. College-led reporting initiatives such as The Eudora Times in Kansas and other student-run newspapers in Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri are stepping in to fill information voids. Students across more than 120 university programs have collectively produced tens of thousands of local news stories, supplying original reporting to communities where legacy media has withered.
Media scholars and journalism educators emphasize the dual value of these initiatives. Not only do they provide communities with consistent and reliable local coverage, but they also serve as rigorous training grounds for aspiring journalists. Under faculty supervision, students gain critical reporting experience, while local partners publish the resulting work—often at no cost—strengthening community news ecosystems operating on tight budgets.
The scale of the news desert problem remains stark. A 2024 report by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism found that more than 1,500 U.S. counties have only one local news outlet, and over 200 counties have none at all. These areas—home to nearly 55 million Americans—face diminished civic engagement, reduced transparency in local governance, and limited public discourse on pressing community matters.
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Leaders of programs like CNS argue that student journalism is no longer just beneficial; it’s essential. CNS alone produced nearly 300 stories in 2023, significantly contributing to local discourse where few, if any, news options remain. Its student-written stories appear both online and in print, through partnerships with local outlets, building a hybrid network that keeps communities informed while fostering the next generation of reporters.
Other universities have followed suit in inventive ways. The University of Iowa’s journalism school acquired struggling local weeklies to sustain rural news coverage. In other states, universities have launched hyperlocal digital outlets serving underserved neighborhoods, effectively reversing the decline of community journalism in targeted ways.
The decline in traditional newsrooms—down over 60 percent since the early 2000s—has left many towns and counties without any formal reporting structure. Student journalists have stepped into that vacuum, covering everything from school board meetings and town halls to local arts and culture events. These stories often go unnoticed by national or regional media but are critical to daily civic life.
Moreover, these initiatives offer transformative educational opportunities. Students not only refine their writing and investigative skills but also engage directly with real-world editorial standards and journalistic ethics. The experience is often described by participants as pivotal in shaping their professional trajectories.
As of mid-2025, efforts like the Community News Service and nonprofit collaborations such as Report for America are helping to reimagine local journalism as a shared civic responsibility. Universities are emerging as key players in preserving democratic engagement at the community level, providing both the manpower and institutional support necessary to sustain local reporting.
In communities starved of consistent local news, these programs offer a lifeline of credible information. And for students, they offer a meaningful bridge between the classroom and the newsroom—training them to become the ethical, engaged reporters our democracy increasingly depends on.