New toolkit aims to strengthen local news, protect civic information
Regina Lawrence, interim dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, released a toolkit through the Local News Impact Consortium to help organizations measure and improve local news ecosystems. The toolkit offers practical guidance for academics, newsrooms and community groups, and it could shape how Lane County tracks information needs, allocates resources and sustains local journalism.
On December 5, 2025, the School of Journalism and Communication announced a toolkit created by interim dean Regina Lawrence and distributed through the Local News Impact Consortium. The toolkit is designed to help users assess local media landscapes, identify gaps in civic information, and develop strategies that support sustainable local journalism. The school highlighted the resource alongside other student and program updates on the same date.
The toolkit emphasizes measurable assessment. It lays out methods for collecting baseline data on audience reach, content production, staffing levels, revenue sources and distribution gaps. Those metrics are critical for newsrooms and community organizations seeking to understand where reporting is thin, which audiences are underserved, and how revenue and attention flow through local markets. For Lane County that means practical ways to inventory coverage of local government meetings, school boards and public health developments, and to quantify the local impact of coverage reductions or expansions.
Market implications are significant. Local advertisers and small businesses depend on predictable audience connections, and funders increasingly seek data to justify investments. By standardizing how organizations measure engagement and revenue trends, the toolkit can make it easier for local outlets to demonstrate value to advertisers, foundations and municipal partners. That in turn can influence investment decisions and encourage experiments with diversified revenue strategies such as membership models, sponsored content partnerships and philanthropic underwriting.
From a policy perspective the toolkit gives county and city officials a factual basis for decisions about public subsidies, library partnerships and information equity initiatives. Policymakers can use the same metrics to monitor whether public information reaches disadvantaged neighborhoods, and to evaluate whether local government transparency objectives are being met.
The long term significance for Lane County lies in turning anecdote into evidence. As news ecosystems evolve, having comparable data allows local stakeholders to track trends, prioritize coverage areas and design interventions that support civic information flows. The toolkit is available through the Local News Impact Consortium and is aimed at researchers, newsrooms and community groups looking to build more resilient local journalism.
