Outlet numbers
We identified 378 local news providers that reach North Carolina communities. Of those outlets, 311 are based in North Carolina, and 67 are based in a neighboring state. The number of outlets by type were:
- Newspaper: 179
- Commercial Television: 80
- Commercial Radio: 47
- Digital: 34
- Public Radio: 32
- Magazine: 4
- Public Television: 2
Newspapers made up 47% of total outlets, followed by commercial television (21%), commercial radio (12%), digital (9%), public radio (8%), magazines (1%) and public television (1%).
The vast majority (82%) of North Carolina news providers identified in this report came from inside the state, but news outlets from surrounding states, South Carolina (6%), Tennessee (6%), Virginia (5%) and Georgia (1%), also reached North Carolina communities. Seventy-eight counties are reached by an out-of-state outlet, including 26 that are part of an out-of-state designated market area (DMA). News organizations headquartered in 28 different counties outside of North Carolina also provide local news to North Carolina.
We identified news providers headquartered in 94 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The counties that did not have a news outlet headquartered there were Currituck, Gates, Northampton, Pamlico, Tyrrell, and Jones counties. The counties in which the most news providers were located were Mecklenburg (29), Wake (23), Buncombe (16), Guilford (15) and New Hanover (14). These five counties are also home to some of the state’s largest cities — Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville, Greensboro and Wilmington, respectively.
Fourteen outlets provide news coverage across the entire state. Those outlets are:
- Carolina Public Press, digital
- Enlace Latino NC, digital
- North Carolina Health News, digital
- The Assembly, digital
- Foundation for Financial Journalism, digital
- Our State, magazine
- Education NC, digital
- Business North Carolina, magazine
- Greater Diversity News, newspaper
- Progreso Hispano News, newspaper
- La Conexión, newspaper
- Scalawag, digital
- Hola Carolina, digital
- UNC-TV, public television
Due to the nature of some outlets’ scopes, we were unable to include them in our maps of access and reporting area and further analysis.