Partisan divide seen in how local news should be propped up

The nation’s partisan divide is evident in how Americans believe the struggling local news industry should be propped up.

A survey by Gallup and the Knight Foundation released on Sunday finds Democrats much more willing than Republicans to see government funding help local news sources.

The survey finds that more than half of Americans aren’t aware of the crisis in an industry where more than 2,000 newspapers have closed in the last 15 years.

Six in 10 Americans see newspapers as an important source of civic pride. But many aren’t willing to open their wallets to show the pride. Forty-four percent of people surveyed said they’ve cut off a subscription to a news source within the past five years.

— David Bauder