New York City is the news capital of the country and an excellent case study on the state of journalism in today’s world. This project examines how geographic divides can contribute to gaps in reporting across the five boroughs of New York city, explores the mark journalism has on the city, and identifies solutions for better coverage into the future.
New York as a lens on the nation
New York City is almost like its own country, said community activist and lifelong New Yorker Asad Dandia. The politics and social conditions of the city are like a microcosm that can be used to understand the greater United States. When we look at media and journalism in New York, it can help us better understand the state of a free press across the country.
While New York City boasts more newspapers than most cities, it also has a much larger population. Even with a generous estimate of 200 newspapers across all five boroughs, this still leaves gaps in the coverage of a city with more than eight million residents.
Additionally, Black, brown, low-income and other historically disenfranchised communities are less likely to have the resources and access for the news reporting needed for their neighborhoods.
See where newspapers in New York City publish geographically by using this interactive map.
If New York City is representative of the rest of the country, how do we address the gaps in reporting? For many, the answer lies in thinking outside the legacy-media box.
Nonprofit journalism
Local and independent journalism is an essential component of democracy. As news media becomes increasing corporatized, local nonprofits are filling in the gaps in coverage. Many editors in nonprofit newsrooms say that this model is the answer to many of the problems in the journalism industry today.
For publications like Documented, which reports directly to immigrant communities in New York City, the work is deeply engrained with community engagement and building trust with the subjects and sources of the news, said Ethar El-Katatney, editor-in-chief of Documented.
While major legacy media such as NBC News or The New York Times often respond to breaking news as quickly as possible, publications like Documented and ProPublica have the ability to report on the news behind the news. El-Katatney described this as the story-plus or the second-day story. This can allow for more attention to providing the news coverage underrepresented communities need, she said.
Documented has the unique ability to represent niche, hyperlocal communities and report on issues that specifically impact them. ProPublica focuses on investigative stories. Democracy Now! reports on international and national news, and works to inform Americans of what is being done globally in their name and with their tax dollars.
ProPublica, Documented and Democracy Now! are all nonprofit newsrooms, with editors at all three papers reporting pros and cons to the model; at each publication, journalists are free from the pressures of legacy and corporate media companies.
Mother Jones is another example of a nonprofit newsroom.
“We are not owned by a major corporation, so we don’t have all of those conflicts of interest that go along with being owned by a major corporation,” said Mother Jones Journalist Ari Berman. “We are not owned by one rich donor, so we are not based on the whim of one billionaire. We are not owned by a political party or a political faction.”
Representatives from Documented, ProPublica, Mother Jones and Democracy Now! all reported greater editorial freedom and mission-based reporting rooted in impact. Mission-based journalism still maintains its fact-based integrity, but can be uniquely positioned to report on news without corporate or capital pressures, the education director at Democracy Now! said. This allows for more truthful reporting than might otherwise be possible, he said.