Infrastructure—Output—Performance: A Conceptual and Methodological Approach to Assessing the Health of Local News Ecosystems

• In Event: Pushing the Boundaries of Journalism Studies: Ecological Approaches to Studying News

Abstract

This paper presents a collaborative effort to develop a conceptual and methodological approach to assessing the health of local news ecosystems. It begins at the conceptual level by organizing into layers – and articulating relevant points of distinction between – the various ecosystem terminologies (“communications ecosystem,” “media ecosystem,” “news ecosystem,” etc.) that are employed somewhat imprecisely and interchangeably in journalism research and professional discourse. Next, this analysis presents a multi-level framework for assessing local news ecosystems. This approach has, at its base, the “infrastructure level,” which focuses on measures of the scope and sustainability of local news sources. Next is the “output level,” which focuses on aggregate measures of news output. And finally, the “performance level” involves evaluation of the extent to which the news output serves community information needs. These data are used to formulate interconnected measures of the health of local news ecosystems that can inform news organizations, foundations, policymakers, and researchers.

Author

• Philip M. Napoli, Rutgers University