New Jersey’s local news crisis among the worst in U.S.

New Jersey faces a democratic crisis in plain view: One of the worst journalist-to-population ratios in the nation has left many towns without reporters to document government decisions, celebrate local events, or capture the stories that weave together the tapestry of community.

A new study, the Local Journalist Index released by Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News, found a 75% national decline in local reporting capacity since 2002. On average, the U.S. once had about 40 local journalists per 100,000 residents. Today, that number is just 8.2. More than one-third of counties across the country lack even the equivalent of a single full-time reporter. And New Jersey sits near the bottom of the rankings.

The Garden State now has only 5.1 journalists per 100,000 people. Only Nevada fares worse. Meanwhile, Vermont has 27.5 journalists per capita, and even neighboring Pennsylvania and New York far outpace New Jersey.

As dire as these findings are, they actually understate the reality. The index counts “local journalist equivalents” — a careful attempt to measure reporting capacity. But the numbers cannot capture what has been lost: institutional knowledge built over years, the relationships that unlock difficult stories, and the sustained attention that deep watchdog reporting requires to keep powerful interests in check.

The shortage is not confined to rural towns. It is also severe in the suburbs and cities. In New Jersey, that means reporters are absent from hundreds of school boards, planning boards, and town councils. Everyday decisions that shape taxes, development, and education often go unreported.

The problem extends far beyond the local level. Statewide accountability journalism also has been diminished. Trenton — with sprawling agencies, multibillion-dollar budgets, and entrenched power brokers — has fewer reporters watching than ever before. Entire beats once devoted to health care, the environment, or transportation have vanished. The watchdog role that kept state politics in check has weakened. It’s no coincidence legislators felt emboldened to gut campaign finance reform and weaken the state’s Open Public Records Act.

New Jersey’s crisis has unique causes that demand urgent attention. Squeezed between the New York and Philadelphia media markets, the state suffers from a perfect storm of geographic misfortune. Major outlets from those cities capture advertising revenue and audience attention while providing only sporadic coverage of New Jersey affairs. The state gets the economic disadvantage without the journalistic benefit.

Ownership patterns have compounded the crisis. Legacy papers have been consolidated and stripped of staff. Many weeklies have closed. Digital startups and nonprofits have stepped in, but their resources are far too limited compared with the scale of the state’s needs. And many of those newer local news sites, particularly franchisees of statewide networks, are owned by political public affairs firms, political operatives, or relatives of public officials who do not disclose those connections.

Worse, the media landscape has become polluted with fake news masquerading as journalism. Political action committees launch websites with names like New Jersey Independent that look legitimate but serve partisan agendas. These “pink slime” operations don’t just fail to inform — they actively misinform, making it harder for residents to distinguish real news from propaganda.

Even well-intentioned nonpartisan startups face impossible math. A single reporter stretched across multiple towns cannot provide the deep, consistent coverage democracy requires. On paper, coverage may appear to exist; in practice, residents often are left in the dark.

And when coverage disappears, civic life erodes. The cost is measurable. Research consistently shows that when local news disappears, voter turnout drops, municipal borrowing costs increase by tens of millions of dollars, and corruption flourishes. In New Jersey — already burdened with the nation’s highest property taxes and a legacy of political scandal — the state can’t afford this civic blind spot.

Reversing the crisis will require creative funding models, stronger support from foundations, engagement from readers, and new ways of gathering and distributing the civic information residents need. Understanding those needs requires listening.

The Local Journalist Index concludes the shortage is “more severe and widespread than previously thought.” In New Jersey, the state faces two intertwined crises: the disappearance of neighborhood-level coverage and the weakening of statewide watchdog journalism.

But these crises are not destiny. Around the country, journalism innovators are experimenting with nonprofit models, foundation partnerships, and reader-supported outlets that show local news can be rebuilt. New Jersey has the civic spirit to do the same. The state has engaged communities, strong civic institutions, and residents who care deeply about good governance.

The choice is stark. We can accept a future where residents are uninformed and democracy is weakened, or we can invest in the reporting infrastructure that sustains civic life. The Garden State has always been scrappy and unwilling to settle for second best. Now we must summon that same spirit so New Jersey’s future can be brighter, more transparent, and more democratic.

Have a thought related to this editorial, a suggestion for ways we can better serve New Jersey residents’ information needs, a news tip, or an idea for an experiment we can try? Please reach out at krystal AT jerseyvindicator.org. I’d love to hear from you.