A new report from the Local NExT Lab argues that newsrooms should run more experiments — specifically the kind with randomization and measurable results. The idea is that journalism, like medicine or policy, can benefit from testing assumptions rather than relying on intuition.
The report points to a recent example from Mississippi Today. The newsroom wanted to know whether the stories it published around its Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation changed how readers received the work itself. That kind of question is hard for a local newsroom to answer on its own, so researchers stepped in to help design a proper test.
The broader argument is that local newsrooms face too many unknowns about audience behavior and impact, and small-scale experiments can offer useful answers. But the report also acknowledges a practical barrier: most local newsrooms lack the time, data skills, or statistical know-how to run such tests alone. Partnerships with academic researchers may be the most realistic path forward.