by: Carolyn Miller, Lee Rainie, Kristen Purcell, Amy Mitchell, Tom Rosenstiel | Pew Research Center

In January, 2011 the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, conducted a nationally representative telephone survey of U.S. adults exploring local news consumption habits.  Overall, the survey indicated that most adults follow what is happening in their local communities and that the local news ecosystem is complex.  Rather than relying on one or two main sources of local news, most adults use a wide variety of both traditional and online sources depending on which local topic they are seeking information about.