Tom Rosenstiel, professor of the practice at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, sees a potential bright side for local news organizations in regard to news fatigue. “Local publications exist in the same media environment as national ones, and they’re vying for people’s time,” Rosenstiel said. “But it’s the national news that people are trying to avoid. It’s making people feel negative and sad. It’s not local news that’s doing that, so that is potentially an opportunity.” The key, Rosenstiel said, is that local journalism must offer “something of value, something that’s genuinely interesting, something that’s telling me something I don’t know, something that’s well written. The world is distressing so the news is distressing, and journalism hasn’t evolved where it needs to go, to be helping me live my life rather than trying to get my attention. Journalism is still operating in the attention marketplace, trying to get eyeballs, trying to alarm me to pay attention.” That strategy may have made more sense when online outlets made much of their money from advertising and clicks, Rosenstiel said, “but we’re not in that world anymore. The news has to help me live my life.”
