Richmond has more local reporters than most U.S. cities
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The Richmond metro area has about 20 full-time local reporters for every 100,000 people, according to a new project from Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News.
Why it matters: Even though that's nowhere near enough people to cover everything happening in our communities, it's nearly 2.5 times higher than the national average and three times the average of 6 in Virginia.
By the numbers: The figures are lower for individual cities or counties in the area, per the data.
- Chesterfield — the region's largest locality that's considered a news desert after losing the Chesterfield Observer in 2023 — has 4 full-time reporters for every 100,000 people.
- Henrico has 6 and Hanover has less than 2.
Fun fact: With 14 reporters, VPM has among the largest news reporting staff in the Richmond region, per an Axios review of news staff directories.
- The RTD, comparatively, has 11.
- 👋 Axios Richmond has two.
How it works: The findings are based on Muck Rack's data about journalists and media outlets nationwide as of Q1 2025, used to show reporters "most likely covering local communities."
- Among other steps, the authors adjusted the number of overall journalists in each county to account for part-timers, plus those who work for big-city outlets but sometimes cover suburban affairs.
- The result is the "local journalist equivalent" — a metric similar to "full-time equivalent," which accounts for part-time employees when measuring the size of a workforce. (Read more about the methodology.)
What we're watching: The state of local journalism has been magnified with the latest federal funding cuts for public broadcasters, which includes Richmond's VPM and other public radio stations like WVTF and WHRO.
- Axios' Sara Fischer reports that it's expected to force hundreds of local station groups nationwide to scale back or close.