The Impact of Facebook on Local News in the UK

Problem Addressed

Local journalism in the UK has been in long-term decline. Newsroom closures, consolidation, and cuts have left many communities with little or no dedicated local reporting. In some areas, residents now live in so-called “news deserts”, where there is no regular professional coverage of local affairs.

At the same time, many people increasingly rely on social media particularly Facebook groups to stay informed about what is happening in their area. These groups are often where residents learn about local events, services, council decisions, and neighbourhood issues. However, there is ongoing concern about whether social media can meaningfully replace local journalism, and whether reliance on platforms like Facebook creates risks around misinformation, accountability, and democratic engagement.

This research set out to better understand the role Facebook groups currently play in the UK’s local news ecosystem. In particular, we wanted to explore what kind of content is being shared in local Facebook groups, how prominent local news is compared to national news, and what this means for communities that have lost traditional local media.

Approach & Implementation

Campaign Lab analysed activity in 1,378 Facebook groups based in 112 marginal UK constituencies, focusing on posts made between July 2023 and July 2024. In total, the dataset included over 10.5 million posts.

We examined the content being shared within local Facebook groups to understand what role they play in people’s local information diets. This included analysing the types of posts appearing in groups, the extent to which posts linked to local news compared to national news or other sources, and how users engaged with different kinds of content through likes, shares, and comments.

We also looked at the tone of discussion surrounding local and national news to assess whether local content is associated with different patterns of interaction or sentiment. Finally, we compared patterns of Facebook-based local news activity with existing measures of “news deserts” to explore whether social media use appears to compensate for gaps in traditional local journalism, or whether some areas remain underserved by both.

To do this, we used large language models to categorise thousands of linked domains and analyse sentiment in comments, alongside manual validation checks to ensure accuracy. We also cross-referenced our findings with external datasets, including the Public Interest News Foundation’s Local News Database.

Evidence & Evaluation

Local news dominates in Facebook groups

Across the groups analysed, local news was shared far more frequently than national news. Posts linking to local news sources outnumbered national news posts by around five to one, indicating a strong preference for locally relevant information within community groups.

Beyond news, Facebook groups were primarily used to share content tied to local life including community events, services, charities, local businesses, and neighbourhood issues reinforcing their role as local information hubs.

Engagement is higher, but discussion is less negative

While national news posts tended to attract slightly higher engagement per post, comments on local news were significantly less negative on average. This suggests that local issues may foster more constructive or less polarised discussion than national political news, which is often more adversarial.

Importantly, we found no meaningful evidence of disinformation in the local Facebook groups analysed during the study period, suggesting that these spaces can function as relatively reliable sources of community information at least under current conditions.

Facebook may partially fill gaps left by local media decline

When comparing Facebook activity to existing measures of local news provision, we found no clear relationship between areas classified as “news deserts” and levels of local news sharing on Facebook. This suggests that social media activity may be compensating, to some extent, for the decline of traditional local journalism.

However, the data also revealed a small number of areas that appeared underserved by both traditional local media and Facebook-based local news, indicating places where information gaps may be particularly acute.

A fragile substitute, not a replacement

While Facebook groups clearly play a significant role in local information ecosystems, they are not a full replacement for professional local journalism. They lack consistent editorial oversight, are vulnerable to platform policy changes, and rely heavily on volunteer moderation and unpaid labour.

The findings highlight both the value and the fragility of relying on commercial social media platforms to meet essential local information needs.

The full report is embedded below, including detailed analysis, figures, constituency-level breakdowns, and policy recommendations.