Our Dec. 15 webinar will include updates about what we've learned and what we hope to accomplish moving forward. Register by sending an email to yololocal@davismedia.org.

Please note: you can download a copy of the report via a link at the end of this article.

Yolo Local maps sector, outlines challenges and opportunities

Sept. 29, 2025—Davis Media Access (DMA) announces the release of its “Yolo County News & Information Ecosystem” report, which presents ideas for addressing the reduced availability of local information and news in Yolo County.  

The 70-page report follows months of research, conversations and contact with people throughout Yolo County to understand how the decline of traditional local media outlets affects both information providers and Yolo residents. DMA calls its effort to address this decline Yolo Local.

DMA worked with Impact Architects, nationally known consultants; jesikah maria ross of Davis, a community-engaged journalist, and the 11-member Yolo Local Working Group. The community engagement, which primarily ran from April to August 2025, included a bilingual survey, direct engagement at events, one-to-one interviews, and roundtable discussions. 

The report is rooted in Impact Architects’ framework and methodology for large-scale ecosystem reports, and includes key comparative data about Yolo County, such as race and ethnicity, income, and civic wellness data. It describes the community engagement approach and strategies that Yolo Local used, and includes a list of organizations and individuals involved.


Key findings in the report include: 

● The need for expanded Spanish-language and bilingual media: While 36 percent of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino/a and nearly 20 percent speak Spanish at home, no news sources are specifically dedicated to serving Hispanic and Latino/a communities in the county


● The need for a backbone institution for the news and information sector: News outlets expressed interest in coordinating with other outlets, but lack a structure to do so. A backbone could act as an “assignment editor,” manage shared resources, and foster collaboration across platforms


● The call to cover critical topics, inclusively: Residents want deeper reporting on local governance, agriculture (including farmworkers’ voices), education, and perspectives and experiences of immigrants and people of color, which are often missing or misrepresented

●  An opportunity exists to create a central resource hub to connect local residents with community, government and nonprofit resources and services. Models in other U.S. cities show that news outlets can connect communities to vital resources