Wyomingites across demographics prefer to get their news online and would rather not pay for it. These are some of the findings in a new wide-ranging survey of 740 Wyomingites, conducted by the Wyoming Local News Fund. Melissa Cassutt, the group’s director, said, in general, there is trust in local journalists.

“An overwhelming percentage of people responded, ‘Yes, I think local journalists are in touch with the community.’ Like 75 percent said that and that's across all demographics, which I think is an indication of trust,” Cassutt said.

But respondents did have confusion about how money influences news coverage.

“They don't understand where the money goes, how the money is collected, the difference between the business side of a news organization, the editorial side. Where are those two connected? Who makes the decisions? And I think there's a real opportunity for the news industry to start to pull back that curtain a little bit,” she said.

Cassutt said the survey is the first of its kind. She said it was important to conduct such a study now since Wyoming is on the brink of becoming a news desert with some counties about to lose their newspapers.

Her group will use the survey to develop a strategic plan for supporting news organizations going forward.