Communities that lose their local news source end up paying more to borrow money — an estimated $1.1 billion more a year, nationally, according to new research from Rebuild Local News.

In this episode of Keep It Local, Matt Baker, director of research at Rebuild Local News, explains the unexpected link between local journalism and the municipal bond market.

The bond market connection

The June 2026 report, by Baker and Dermot Murphy, found that lenders view communities without local news coverage as riskier investments. With fewer reporters attending public meetings, filing open records requests, and scrutinizing government decisions, lenders see more uncertainty — and price that uncertainty into higher interest rates on municipal bonds. Those costs get passed on to taxpayers. Drawing on peer-reviewed research, Rebuild Local News puts the nationwide total at roughly $1.1 billion a year.

“It’s actually something you can’t afford not to have,” Baker said of local news.

What watchdog reporting prevents

Baker points to two cases as evidence that accountability journalism pays for itself. In Bell, California, investigative reporting exposed city officials paying themselves excessive salaries, which eventually led to criminal convictions. In Harvey, Illinois, financial mismanagement went largely unchecked, contributing to severe budget problems and leading to deep cuts to public safety services. In both cases, Baker argues, independent local journalism could have caught the problem before it became an expensive crisis.

Beyond the bond market

The financial cost of losing local news isn’t limited to borrowing. Baker cites a growing body of academic research tying the decline of local journalism to lower voter turnout and rising political polarization, along with harder-to-measure effects like insider trading and mortgage lending disparities. The throughline, he says, is that local journalism works like civic infrastructure — when it disappears, the costs show up in places people don’t expect.

No single fix

Baker doesn’t think there’s one solution to the local news crisis. He points instead to an ecosystem — public policy, philanthropy, entrepreneurial publishers, nonprofits, digital startups, newsletters, and hyperlocal newsrooms — working together to rebuild community coverage.

“We’re going to have to get creative if we want to solve this crisis,” he said.

For Baker, attaching a dollar figure to the local news crisis changes who has a stake in the conversation. This isn’t just an issue for journalists or media executives — it’s a cost that shows up on taxpayers’ bills, wherever they live.

“It will have an impact.”

Click here to read the full report from Rebuild Local News.

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Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5u33iI4Z1EQ3wmu3weAHxj
Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-%241-1-billion-cost-of-americas-local-news-crisis/id1808196993?i=1000778717382
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw-K4ongwnM

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Editor’s note: Artificial Intelligence was used to transcribe and create an initial summary, and then edited by a human.