Information Ecosystem Assessment
EUREKA, CALIFORNIA, MAY-JULY 2019 INFORMATION ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WHAT AM I READING? What follows is an assessment of the information ecosystem – the dynamic of information creation, distribution, and consumption – of Eureka, California. Eureka, (population 26,998) is the country seat and largest city of Humboldt County (population 136,373) located along California’s remote and rural northern coast. Humboldt is the home of Access Humboldt, a local non-profit, public access media network, and Internews, a global non-profit supporting healthy information worldwide. The purpose of this project is to inform Access Humboldt’s new strategic plan for 2020-2025, and to help Access Humboldt better serve the information needs of their evolving community. We will also provide a version of this report for the general public, particularly journalists, philanthropists, government officials, and the civil society and activist community for consideration in pursuit of their civic and policy goals. KEY FINDINGS For its size and level of wealth, Eureka has a diverse array of information sources. Eureka is one of the smallest media markets in the country (#195 of 205). Despite this, it enjoys a local newspaper of record, an alternative weekly, two network affiliates with local news broadcasts, a PBS affiliate, two commercial local news sources, and a host of commer- cial and community radio stations. With the notable exception of the sudden closure of KHSU, the local NPR affiliate hosted by Humboldt State University, Eureka’s market has remained remarkably stable. Eurekans generally have access to an information source they trust. The vast majority of the people we talked to,- both in and outside the media industry, agreed there were multiple trustworthy news opera tions.
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