\u201cThe things people care about getting information about the most are the hardest to get, and that\u2019s the local stuff,\u201d Andrea Everett, principal researcher at Embold Research, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n
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San Jose residents said finding news about what\u2019s happening in their backyard is difficult, according to a survey by Embold Research. Graph courtesy of Embold Research.<\/p>\n
Everett said the pattern has surfaced in every market the firm has surveyed, including Marin and San Mateo counties, Chicago, Illinois and Tampa Bay, Florida. Comparison figures provided by Embold showed Santa Clara County residents rank among the least satisfied with the local information they found on topics ranging from public safety and local politics to housing and education.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of us feel as though we\u2019re being inundated with national and international news through the internet,\u201d Gary Hector, vice president of the Almaden Valley Community Association and a longtime Oak Canyon resident, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.\u00a0\u201cTrying to find local news requires effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janine Zacharia, the Carlos Kelly McClatchy advanced lecturer in the Stanford University Department of Communication, said Santa Clara County\u2019s media landscape is thinner than it looks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need many more reporters,\u201d Zacharia told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe Mercury News is a shadow of its former self. They have a fraction of the reporters they used to have out in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
The widest gaps between how residents rated local topics and how satisfied they were with available information pertained to civic issues. Local political information was rated important by 84% of residents, public safety was rated at 91% and emergency preparedness at 89%. But the satisfaction levels were much lower at 42%, 52% and 51%, respectively.<\/p>\n
A separate question shifted from news topics to 10 everyday situations respondents may face, such as when a crime occurs near them or when local and state policies or laws change. The survey asked residents how satisfied they were with their ability to get this information as needed. Satisfaction barely outpaced dissatisfaction on both \u2014 39% to 34% on crime and 37% to 34% on policy changes.<\/p>\n
The most common obstacle for residents was not knowing what information to trust, at 40%, ahead of information that was incomplete or lacked detail\u00a0at 35% and paywalls at 32%.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen news moved to the internet, people got used to clicking on stories for free and didn\u2019t want to pay to get through the paywall,\u201d Zacharia said. \u201cYou know what\u2019s free? Pink slime media and advertising and posts by your great uncle on Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pink slime refers to sites built to look like local news outlets while pushing political or even corporate agendas.<\/p>\n
Where residents obtain their news varies by age. While online search was the most useful source overall at 44%, residents 65 and older leaned on local television, while people ages 18 to 34 turned to friends, family and content creators on social media.<\/p>\n Hector said residents have told the association they don\u2019t feel equipped to speak up on projects that deal with zoning and density proposals<\/a> in their own neighborhood. He said they blame it on less local news.<\/p>\n He added news outlets that once wrote about a single city now cover a much wider area.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t feel that connection that you once had,\u201d Hector said. \u201cMany of the smaller newspapers have succumbed to the economic pressure that you get from the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789403414_987_interactive-321838904008.png\")
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