New research from the Center for Community News shows that students are playing a growing reporting role across the country

Vermont Business Magazine Student reporters in university-managed reporting programs produced more than 7500 news stories last year, with more than seven million views, according to just-released data from the Center for Community News. In its first national study of the extensive reach of student reporting, CCN captured the growing role that students are playing to fill news gaps in the US today.

“Students at colleges and universities are significant contributors to our local news ecosystem,” said Center for Community News Director Richard Watts. “It may come as a surprise to many Americans that much of the professional reporting that keeps our communities informed is now the work of students, in coordination with professional editors and faculty.”

According to the data, 62 universities and colleges across the nation currently manage almost 2000 student reporters in classrooms and newsrooms, in collaboration with more than 1000 news outlets. The programs range from the very large (University of Missouri has six studentstaffed newsrooms) to the very small (Franklin College has 5-7 students cover the statehouse under the direction of a full-time faculty member).

These programs are distinctly different from internships and campus media in that students report on the world at large, under the direction of faculty and professional editors, for news outlets that serve their communities and regions. News-academic partnerships like these are responsible for some of the most enterprising and consequential reporting in local news today.

For example, an extensive new investigation by student journalists for the Capitol News Service into Maryland’s public schools uncovered lack of accountability, fraud, and false resumes; Indiana’s The Statehouse File monitors on-therecord statements by elected officials on critical developments in Indiana’s abortion ban, testing scores, and more; and in the wake of historic flooding in Vermont, UVM’s Community News Service recently wrote about how non-English speakers can access disaster resources.

This study is the culmination of a productive pilot year for the Center for Community News, a nonpartisan nonprofit at the University of Vermont that is helping to grow university-led journalism around the country. It was inspired by the success of UVM’s own Community News Service and the demand for more coordination and support for these programs nationally.

“Providing opportunities for our students to be engaged and informed citizens is a core value, so it made perfect sense to weave local reporting into our offerings,” said University of Vermont College of Arts and Sciences Dean Bill Falls, “The Center for Community News is tapping into extraordinary potential for schools to work together to help solve an urgent challenge in civic life with these programs.”

In its first year, CCN identified 130 programs where student reporting is contributing to local news at 125 universities in 41 states. CCN leadership conducted 138 interviews with faculty, staff, professionals, and students in these programs, which informed 68 case studies, 72 fact sheets, interactive maps, and a robust suite of online assistance. Together, these resources are helping to seed and grow student-led reporting programs across the U.S. to help stem the loss of local news and cultivate the next generation of great journalists.

“The urgency of this mission has never been greater,” said Center for Community News Advisory Board Chair Meg Little Reilly. “Two thirds of U.S. counties have no daily newspaper today, and more than 200 have no local newspaper at all. The impact of this trend has profound implications for the success of our communities and the functioning of our democracy. The good news is that we know that student-led reporting can be part of the solution. With the resources and will, we can put the lessons of this report into action.”

Student Reporting Impact Study 2023 from the Center for Community News Key Findings:

• Student-reported stories received more than seven million views over the past year.

• More than 2000 university/college students produced news in that time.

• This data came from 62 college- and university-led reporting programs.

• Together, they published more than 7500 news stories.

• These stories appeared in more than 1000 news outlets across the U.S. Methodology

The Center for Community News sent a survey to 130 colleges and universities with a newsacademic program in 2023 to collect this data for its pilot study. CCN had a roughly 50% respondent rate, with 62 schools participating. These findings are based on self-reported annual averages and almost certainly an undercount of the full reach of student reporting in the U.S. Many of the schools that host news-academic partnerships do not track reporting data internally. CCN will continue to work with schools to refine metrics and reporting to capture the full breadth of student-produced news in future studies.

Respondents:

See a list of the 62 respondents here.

About CCN

The Center for Community News at UVM is helping to connect student journalists at every stage of life with local news organizations to help build a world in which every community has access to reliable information by and for the people who live there. Website: uvm.edu/ccn

About the University of Vermont

Since 1791, the University of Vermont has worked to move humankind forward. UVM’s strengths align with the most pressing needs of our time: the health of our societies and the health of our environment. Our size—large enough to offer a breadth of ideas, resources, and opportunities, yet intimate enough to enable close faculty-student mentorship across all levels of study—allows us to pursue these interconnected issues through cross-disciplinary research and collaboration. Providing an unparalleled educational experience for our students, and ensuring their success, are at the core of what we do. As one of the nation’s first land grant universities, UVM advances Vermont and the broader society through the discovery and application of new knowledge.

Source: 8.30.2023. BURLINGTON – UVM uvm.edu/ccn