Does local news matter? Here’s what we’re learning.
This fall, we hosted a series of panels centered around one question: Does local news matter? Each panel highlighted a researcher and a leader of a local nonprofit news organization.
Local news can keep government accountable
Local news holds the government accountable, one of the many reasons it’s essential to democracy. In the final conversation in our series of conversations on the impact of local news, we heard from Nikki Usher of the University of San Diego, Jon Ralston of the Nevada Independent and Michelle De La Isla, former mayor of Topeka, Kansas.
How local news can reflect the communities it serves
As we work to rebuild local news, we have a clear, urgent opportunity to create news organizations that are more diverse, equitable and inclusive. This shift must happen both inside the newsroom — with better policies for recruitment, hiring, training, retention and growth – and in the communities newsrooms serve.
Rebuilding local news fosters civic engagement
Despite growing participation in national politics and high volumes of information available online, local political engagement in the U.S. has declined — but local news can be a solution.
Local news: the lever of democracy every community needs
Today, on Democracy Day, we’re joining a national group of media organizations and their supporters that are each sharing ways that American democracy is under threat — and how we can save it.
Four patterns we see in growing nonprofit newsrooms
As we measure our impact in nonprofit news, we’ve learned some key lessons about the growth of nonprofit local news organizations
Our guide to developing a community ambassador program that can help local newsrooms better serve their communities
Over the last year and a half we’ve worked with more than 60 community ambassadors in six cities and regions to do more than 500 community listening interviews. Here's how we did it — and how you can too.
How our venture philanthropy is impacting local news
This comprehensive look at the impact of our work over the last two years shows the promise of a venture philanthropy approach to rebuilding local news across the country
Gratitude for those joining us to help rebuild local news
We have been in a decades-long crisis of contraction in the newspaper industry that has left communities across the country without access to information and lets power go unchecked. To begin to reverse this decline, a cadre of philanthropists are stepping up to the plate to help finance and sustain a new business model for local news.
Our guide to developing a community ambassador program that can help rebuild local news
Over the last year and a half we’ve worked with more than 50 community ambassadors in five cities and regions to do nearly 400 community listening interviews. Here's how we did it — and how you can too.