This local newsroom became a trusted source in a state where 60% of newspapers have disappeared

When local news disappears, communities do not stop needing information.

They adapt.

Across Wisconsin, residents are piecing together information from Facebook groups, school district pages, podcasts, government newsletters, search engines, neighbors and community organizations — building their own systems to stay informed as traditional local news continues to shrink.

But amid that fragmentation, one newsroom surfaced repeatedly in conversations across the state: Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS).

Even residents outside Milwaukee described the outlet as a trusted, useful source of information — and several said they wished their own communities had “something like NNS.”

That finding emerged during The Pivot Fund’s Great Lakes ecosystem research, which included conversations with nearly 5,000 residents across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. The research found that people are not disengaged from local information. Instead, many no longer rely on traditional institutions to provide it. Residents described a fragmented media landscape where information is gathered through multiple informal and digital channels, often requiring communities to verify information themselves.

“Facebook is my primary news source for local stuff,” said Amanda, 32, of Platteville. “A lot of local organizations, including the schools and the city, have their own pages.”

The findings reflect a broader statewide reality. Wisconsin has lost roughly 60% of its newspapers since 2004, with newsroom closures accelerating in recent years, according to Free Press. More than 22 counties now have only one local newspaper, while some communities have none at all.

The consequences extend beyond fewer headlines.

A 2024 report from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute identified access to local news as a factor influencing civic health. Residents and advocates connected local information decline to weaker government accountability, lower civic participation and growing difficulty accessing trusted information. One organizer recalled speaking with voters during Wisconsin’s 2023 Supreme Court election who did not know an election was happening.

Against that backdrop, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has become a model for what community-rooted journalism can look like. Its influence has become even more apparent following the newsroom’s 2024 merger with Wisconsin Watch.

At the time, many journalism observers and funders viewed the partnership through a familiar hierarchy: Wisconsin Watch — nationally recognized for investigative reporting and bolstered by major philanthropic support — was expected to become the dominant force in the relationship, bringing institutional scale, fundraising capacity, and statewide visibility to Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Operationally and financially, that has largely proven true. The merger strengthened infrastructure and expanded opportunities for collaboration.

But audience trust followed a different pattern.

Throughout The Pivot Fund’s listening sessions, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service surfaced repeatedly and unprompted as a source residents relied on and respected. Wisconsin Watch, despite its strong reputation within journalism circles, was mentioned far less frequently.

The contrast highlights a reality shaping local journalism: institutional prestige does not automatically create community relevance.

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service became connective tissue that grounded the merged organization in the daily lives of Wisconsin residents. Its strength was not scale alone — it was proximity, trust and usefulness — qualities many communities now value more than scale or brand recognition alone.

What Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service got right

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service succeeds because it approaches journalism differently from many traditional outlets.

Rather than chasing speed or prioritizing breaking news above all else, NNS focuses on helping residents understand how local decisions, policies and events affect everyday life in the neighborhoods they serve.

Founded at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication, NNS was created to address longstanding information gaps in Milwaukee neighborhoods that residents felt were overlooked or misrepresented by mainstream media.

The newsroom’s origins were deeply community-informed.

Executive Director Ron Smith said the organization grew out of research funded by the Zilber Family Foundation examining how Black and Brown residents accessed news and information. The findings revealed both low trust in traditional media and frustration with how communities were being covered.

“There was a sense that communities were not being covered in a professional way,” Smith said.

That insight helped shape the newsroom’s mission.

Today, NNS covers 18 Milwaukee neighborhoods with reporting focused on schools, housing, health, economic development, public safety, neighborhood services and community life — precisely the kinds of information residents throughout The Pivot Fund’s research consistently identified as most useful.

“No one’s coming to NNS for breaking news,” Smith told The Pivot Fund. “They’re coming to us for what that news means to the communities that we serve and care about.”

That distinction matters.

Residents throughout Wisconsin repeatedly described wanting journalism that feels relevant to their daily lives — not coverage that only appears when something goes wrong.

Karen, an Indigenous woman living in Madison, said traditional local media often missed the stories she cared most about.

“It’s irrelevant to anything that’s going on,” she said. “Let’s talk about the bigger things, where the community, we can make an impact on it, especially for our youth… Our youth are really good. Let’s talk about that instead of negative stereotypes. Big outlets ignore the positive stories.”

NNS has built credibility by doing exactly that: covering communities with proximity, nuance and dignity.

A model rooted in proximity and trust

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has become more than a newsroom for many residents. It has become part of the civic infrastructure of the communities it serves.

Its reporting regularly highlights neighborhood leaders, residents, local solutions and community assets often ignored by traditional narratives. Executive Director Sharon McGowan Smith has described the organization’s mission as elevating “ordinary people who do extraordinary things.”

That approach resonated strongly with listening session participants.

“It’s rare that you hear something positive about African Americans — and if you do, it’s short and lacks detail,” said Pamela, a Wisconsin participant.

But NNS’s influence extends beyond representation.

The organization has built trust through consistency, visibility and service. Residents experience the newsroom not as an outside institution dropping into neighborhoods during moments of crisis, but as an ongoing presence invested in community life.

That distinction may explain why NNS surfaced repeatedly in conversations across Wisconsin, including among people who do not live in Milwaukee.

In an era when many communities feel abandoned by traditional media systems, residents recognized something different in the newsroom’s approach: usefulness.

What publishers can learn from NNS

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service offers lessons for local publishers nationwide:

• Use proximity as a reporting advantage: Deep knowledge of a community creates opportunities to surface stories, concerns and impacts that broader outlets often overlook.
• Cover the information gaps residents actually feel:Communities consistently identified needs around schools, housing, public services, elections, youth issues and neighborhood change — not simply traditional political coverage.
• Explain what news means, not only what happened: Residents want reporting that helps them understand how decisions and policies affect their daily lives.
• Stay visible in community spaces: Trust is built over time through relationships, consistency and presence — not only through publishing stories.
• Treat usefulness as a trust strategy: People return to outlets that help them navigate everyday life.

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service stands out not because it tries to be everywhere, but because it stays deeply connected to the communities it serves.

Its success suggests something important about the future of local journalism:

Communities are still searching for trusted information.

The outlets most likely to earn that trust may not be the biggest or fastest. They may simply be the ones closest to the people they serve.