What do we know about healthy news and information ecosystems?

A Literature Review

What is a “news and information ecosystem”? How do we know if it’s “healthy”? And why does a healthy news and information ecosystem matter for other aspects of community health?

We’ve spent the past six months digging into these questions. As part of this work, we’ve reviewed more than 100 research articles about local news and information ecosystems, and while we don’t have definitive answers, we have found some strong themes and trends in research.

• News and information ecosystems include far more than legacy news publications;
• Local institutions, like libraries and universities, can serve as a backbone for local news and information ecosystems, connecting publications with many sectors of the community;
• Healthy local news and information ecosystems are connected to greater community cohesion;
• Healthier news and information ecosystems have been found to be connected with healthier civic spaces, including higher voter turnout, less split ticket voting, and decreased costs of government; and
• The number of information providers of an ecosystem is important, but equally important is the relationship among them, and the network and flows of information across a community.

There are also opportunities for additional research and learning. We found that most studies of local news ecosystems have been limited to small-scale qualitative case studies. Additionally, industry or country-wide assessments largely rely on the number of outlets, or news deserts, as the indicator of health. And while there is research connecting local news to indicators of civic engagement, government accountability, and government efficiency, we still need more research about how healthy news and information ecosystems contribute to other aspects of community health.

While our review was expansive, we know there’s more out there! We’ve organized the research we found in a database for public use, and we invite you to use this resource in your own work.

And please let us know if we missed anything we should have included!

In 2021, we’ll be sharing a framework for assessing the health of news and information ecosystems, new research that applies the framework in nine communities, and a playbook so that you, too, can apply the framework in your community.

This work is supported by the Democracy Fund, the Google News Initiative, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.