Jessica Mahone

Jessica Mahone came to UNC as the research director for the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media (CISLM) in 2021.

Prior to joining CISLM, she has held research and evaluation positions at Report for America, the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy at Duke University, Democracy Fund, and Pew Research Center. Her research has covered a variety of topics in local news including the demographics of who is most likely to be interviewed by reporters, the role of local news consumption in civic engagement, state news media infrastructure, what outlet types produce the most local news content, and "pink slime" local news sites.