Index 1.0

When we launched the Civic Information Index one year ago, we knew we had created a tool that could help shift the conversation around journalism from saving it to building a better, more community-centered version of it. As Press Forward Director Dale Anglin wrote in our inaugural Index report, “our overarching goal is not to preserve journalism for journalism’s sake; it’s to strengthen communities.” 

Our goal in year one was to get the Index onto people’s screens, see how they use it, and create some case studies based on that usage that could help others benefit from this resource. We wound up collecting seven examples of how the Index has been used so far, which ranged from making funding decisions, to mapping community civic health, to broadening how news outlets think about community partnerships, and more. One community foundation in Iowa was so delighted to use the Index as part of their inaugural exploration into local news giving that they wrote, “by articulating the mutual connection between local news and other vital elements of thriving communities, the Index encourages us to consider this interconnectedness when designing regional solutions.”

Year one of the Index saw funders being some of the earliest adopters of the tool, using it to assess financial needs and opportunities related to journalism and civic health around the country. We also observed practical use in our own grantmaking and support initiatives for community information providers. The Index brings context to the unique civic assets (things like libraries and public good Facebook pages) and challenges (including cost of housing and medical debt) that impact how communities communicate and access the information they need.

Index Out In the World

We presented the Index at 24 conferences, focus groups, demos and community-of-practice building sessions, engaging a wide variety of stakeholders to demonstrate the far-reaching, cross-sectoral potential of the Index. In addition, the Index team is actively working toward our long-term goal to train users in collecting data relevant to the Index. We developed an Index User Guide containing practical steps, tools and questions to help users make sense of the data, explore what’s happening locally, and take actions based on what they learn.

By The Numbers

6.7K	24	7
New Index website users in 2025	Conferences, focus groups, demos and community-of-practice building sessions	Published case studies

Who We’re Reaching

Funders	Journalists / JSOs
Civic Actors	Health Practitioners

Case Studies

When we launched the Civic Information Index, we offered actor-specific recommendations for funders, journalism support organizations, news outlets, local civic actors, and academic institutions. In 2025, we started looking systematically at how those recommendations were taken up, using the seven case studies in this report as our main evidence base.

• For funders, we recommended using Index data to prioritize under-resourced regions and treat information as ecosystem work. This is now visible in place-based strategies from Press Forward Central Appalachia, Press Forward Minnesota, the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund and the MacArthur Foundation, all of whom use Index scores to justify where and why they invest.
• For newsrooms and journalism support organizations, we urged them to use the Index to map information needs and design more community-centered reporting and collaborations. Evansville NewsLab and Documented are doing this by using Index indicators to validate local research, target immigrant communities in low-civic-health counties, and shape training programs for other outlets.
• For academic institutions and local civic partners, we encouraged them to act as anchor institutions. The University of Oregon‘s Engaged Journalism course and the University of Evansville NewsLab show how the Index can be embedded in teaching, community partnerships and local ecosystem planning.

Together, these examples confirm that the Index is not only generating data but actively informing decisions and strategies—while also revealing where we still need to support uptake in 2026.

International Adaptations

Sweden-based FOJO Media Institute met with the Index team to explore developing a version of the Index adapted to their country’s unique needs around language barriers and information access. 

The Index team also met with the Irish Government’s information commissioner who was interested in the Civic Information Index as a tool that country might be able to reproduce with an eye on improving information access around the island. 

Advocacy Efforts

Rima Dael, CEO of the National Federation for Community Broadcasters, used the Index in fundraising and advocacy conversations to make the case for public media as a civic health anchor, particularly in rural areas.

“The Index arrived at a moment when the public media infrastructure that so many communities depend on for safety, civic participation, and culturally competent information had been shaken at its core. Amid administrative volatility, political polarization, and the erosion of essential institutions, community radio stations—many of which operate with only volunteers or small paid staffs—found themselves asked to do even more with less. The Index helped us articulate why this matters not just for newsrooms, but for the civic health of entire regions.”

Index 2.0

Stay tuned! An updated Index will launch in February that will include: 

• Updates for 18 of the original 21 data sets in the Index 1.0
• New data sets around voting, journalists, and mental health added to the existing four pillars
• A FIFTH PILLAR! We’re adding a new pillar reflecting Environmental Resilience that will have four data sets

We’re excited to continue to make civic data more accessible, understandable, relational, and actionable in 2026. Let us know if you have any ideas or questions around this work. We can’t wait to collaborate with you.