In Medill's 2026 data, the District of Columbia has 8 newspapers, 10 digital-only news sites, 1 public broadcaster and 4 local TV newsrooms. It counts as a single county-level area, with 23 local news sources, so it is not a news desert. That is 1.2 newspapers for every 100,000 residents, against 1.6 nationally.
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Book a call with Todd| Measure | District of Columbia | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Newspapers | 8 | 5,523 |
| Digital-only news sites | 10 | 1,926 |
| Public broadcasters | 1 | 342 |
| Local TV newsrooms | 4 | 678 |
| Newspapers per 100,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| County-level areas with no local news source | 0 | 238 |
| County-level areas with only one | 0 | 1,478 |
| County-level areas | 1 | 3,144 |
How the District of Columbia compares
- The District of Columbia has 1.2 newspapers for every 100,000 residents, tied for 39th highest of the 50 states and DC. The national figure is 1.6.
Neighboring states
The District of Columbia borders Maryland and Virginia.
Closest to the District of Columbia (1.2) on newspapers per 100,000 residents: North Carolina (1.2) and Washington (1.2).
Use this data
The District of Columbia: District of Columbia by county-level area, 2026 (CSV). Every county in the country is in one file: news outlets by county, 2026 (CSV). State totals are in news outlets by state (CSV) and news deserts by state (CSV). Credit the Medill Local News Initiative for the figures, and link to this page or to news deserts by state, which has every state side by side and a lookup you can put on your own site.
Put these figures on your site
You are welcome to embed this card on your own site. It shows the District of Columbia's figures from Medill's 2026 data and links back to this page. Copy this code. On narrow pages, raise the height to 500.
Getting a story onto local news sites
A feature story placed through a syndication network can run on local news sites in many states at once. How to get your brand on local news sites explains how that works, and local news statistics has the national picture.
Questions
Is the District of Columbia a news desert?
No. The District of Columbia has 23 local news sources in Medill's 2026 data.
How many newspapers are in the District of Columbia?
8, in Medill's 2026 data. That is 1.2 for every 100,000 residents, against 1.6 for the whole country.
How this page was made
Outlet counts and news deserts come from the Medill Local News Initiative's 2026 data: the state figures on its map (read November 8, 2026) and the outlet list and county data behind it (read November 9). NewsUSA counted the outlets by county and checked on every build that the counties add up to Medill's state figures. Population is the US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate. How these guides are made.