A 2023 report from Northwestern University found that local news deserts are occurring at an alarming rate. There are 204 counties in the United States without a local media outlet, and 228 U.S. counties are currently on a watch list for losing theirs out of 1,562 counties with only one local news source. This includes newspapers, digital websites, public radio news and minority-ran publications. There are less than 1,000 minority-run local news outlets today. This includes LGBTQ+, BIPOC and women-owned outlets. Since 2005, almost 2,900 news organizations have disappeared.
This issue is exacerbated by its effects on the local communities that are left without a reliable news source. This issue is predominant in lower-income communities, which often include people who are LGBTQ+, and residents who have less financial stability, and can’t afford access to more nationwide reliable news sources.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, minority owned-media outlets, such as those run by journalists of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC backgrounds, have gone from 950 outlets in 2020 to 723 in 2023. Because minority media outlets are designed to service specific communities in a local setting, they are often reliant on other local businesses of that community.
Small queer businesses are overlooked and often denied proper financing. A 2022 study from the Movement Advancement Project found that while small LGBTQ-owned businesses were just as likely to apply for loans as non-LGBTQ ones, they were less likely to receive it. The LGBTQ+ businesses were also more often owned by women and immigrants, compared to their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts.
While we can find information regarding LGBTQ+ businesses as a whole, there is a severe lack of data for local news organizations that are LGBTQ-run. The best available statistics and research regarding LGBTQ+ local media have them lumped into the category of minority, which encompasses a range of different identities, and lacks an intersectional approach for where marginalized identities meet.
Local LGBTQ+ media have the uphill battle of fighting against misinformation and bias. A recent 2024 study by PNAS Nexus found that those who are exposed to misinformation and are receptive to it tend to have more extreme ideology. Additionally, most social media interventions are not effective enough to stop the rate of exposure to misinformation.
Misinformation against people who are LGBTQ+ and BIPOC has been rampant this election season. Evidenced by 2024 conservative presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments on “transgender operations on illegal aliens” and “Haitian immigrants eating dogs in Ohio.”
Extremists and the misinformation they feed are affecting legislation. In Texas, there has been an onslaught of anti-transgender laws that put communities of underrepresented people at risk, and the local media that represents them.
A rising local entity committed to equity for marginalized voices is The Pivot Fund. Founded in 2021 by Tracie Powell, The Pivot Fund is an organization that aims to invest in local news outlets run by journalists of marginalized backgrounds, such as those from BIPOC and BIPOC-LGBTQ+ communities. Powell spoke on how The Pivot Fund aims to help news organizations resist the onslaught of misinformation.
“This is a presidential election, so there is plenty of disinformation out there, and there’s a lot of demagoguing of communities of color and LGBTQ folks,” Powell said. “And so it’s really important now more than ever that we uplift the voices and amplify the voices of those most impacted by disinformation and by hate. Supporting those who are producing content that’s not just about, but for and along with these communities that we’re talking about. That’s the power of challenging disinformation. It reflects who actually holds the power which is the people. And that’s really why we do what we do.”
“We are taking the fight directly to the platforms where the disinformation exists. We’re countering disinformation with credible information that’s trusted by the communities that these outlets serve. It’s very important that we be where people are at. It’s just as important that we’re in the places where disinformation flourishes, so we can be the counterweight to that. It is a huge driver of why we do what we do.
“You can find disinformation in newspapers, but it’s most prevalent in digital spaces,” Powell said. “And so that’s why we’re looking for trusted voices in the digital landscape. This is how people access news and information now. So we have to be in that space.”
Many local queer businesses are often owned by women, Black individuals, immigrants, or a combination of these identities. These types of local intersectional outlets are and have historically been vulnerable. BLK Magazine was a Black-owned and gay-owned local news magazine in L.A., started by Alan Bell, which sought to provide education and resources on the AIDs epidemic, as well as orientate content toward Black and LGBTQ+ issues and community interests as a whole. This news outlet ran from 1988 until its cancellation in 1994. It is rare to find information on, or resources for existing local media outlets today that function essentially as BLK magazine did in the 1990s, with a focus on a community of multiple identities.
While the future seems bleak for marginalized local media, there is hope through various philanthropic efforts and organizations to aid in the survival of LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and intersecting local journalism. In 2023, philanthropists raised $500 million to support local news. Collaborative efforts such as the Local Media Association and NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists have been created for journalistic entities to exist in support of one another, and fight misinformation by providing news organizations with appropriate terminology and information about bias as they affect the LGBTQ+ community.
“We provide direct financial support and services to hyperlocal community news organizations,” Powell said. “We prioritize organizations serving communities of color. We invest in the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and class. We recently invested in Baltimore Beat. Baltimore is like a 60 something percent Black city, and the Beat is Black-led, and so they have a lot of trust from that majority population and community. It’s an organization that struggled with raising additional funds, whereas another digital outlet launched with 50 million dollars and Baltimore Beat only launched with a million. ” Powell said it’s “critical that we invest in those voices, because those communities need it most.”
“We were looking in Texas, and there’s so much going on in terms of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation,” Powell added. “The challenge is, how do we support in a way that is going to really help and address the community. It’s a bit of a challenge, but I think that it can be done.”
This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.