You Can Use This Map to Discover 130 News Websites in Maryland
Maryland residents have more than 130 news websites to choose from. As part of our mission to offer easily accessible local news, Bloc By Block News has placed these outlets in our newly developed news ecosystem map. We’ll use this research to help Marylanders find trustworthy information on local topics that matter to them most.
Highlights From Our News Ecosystem Map
Our news ecosystem map shows where news sources are located and sheds light on how they differ in size, subject matter, and publishing frequency.
For instance, publications like The Catoctin Banner have geographically narrow coverage and publish infrequently but have a deep neighborhood voice. Then there are outlets with large coverage areas and produce many wide-ranging articles like Our Community Now. Publications such as JMore and The Afro American NewsPaper target specific genders, professions, ethnicities, or cultural demographics.
Maryland’s Baltimore Sun Newspaper is the most widely known and circulated newspaper in that state. Catering to the general public, its website covers eight specific counties. However, The Sun’s deepest coverage lands in Baltimore City. But The Sun is just one of 19 publications covering the city. There are lesser-known outlets that focus on specific neighborhoods, beats, or styles of reporting that offer value to a large swath of Baltimoreans.
We’ve also identified great work coming from other region-oriented publications such as the Maryland Coastal Dispatch, the Chestertown Spy, and the Hyattsville Wire to name a few.
Expanding Where You Get Your News
Our map shows areas where news coverage is lacking because there are little to no publications serving that area. These are known as news deserts.
In order to water those deserts, we’re broadening our scope of where news comes from.
There are libraries, high schools and colleges, public access television stations, churches, civically-involved groups, and arts and humanities groups that all disseminate vital neighborhood information.
We’re developing another map that will highlight these institutions and broaden the information and media ecosystem beyond what people typically recognize as news outlets.
All of these sources will funnel into the Bloc By Block app — a one-stop-shop for news and information in every county, town, city, neighborhood — and block — in Maryland. All of the sources on the app will be vetted based on our custom trust meter to ensure that users are consuming reliable and accurate content. Unlike social media feeds our app filters out noisy national headlines to refocuses Marylanders’ attention on local matters they care about.
Our ultimate goal is to help Marylanders access reliable local news sources that empower them to make informed decisions regarding social, economic, and political issues in their neighborhoods. We hope you’ll join us.
Stay tuned.
