News You Need

Wondering why our work is important? Here’s what you need to know about the fight for the future of local journalism.

Videos

The Salt Lake Tribune's switch to nonprofit status may inspire other newspapers to do the same

Struggling newspapers across the country are asking: How long can we stay in business? 

You Can Be a Part of the Future of Local Journalism

Nearly 2,000 community newspapers across the country have closed in the last 15 years. We need to think creatively and act aggressively if we want to preserve professional community journalism before it is lost forever.

Print & Digital

‘Local journalism is stampeding back, town by town.’

Founders of the nonprofit Concord Bridge in Massachusetts say they were motivated by a lack of local coverage and accountability.

Nonprofit local news shows that it can scale

“We are beginning to see the maturation of and experimentation by a number of individual organizations showing how nonprofit news can scale.”

A Look At Legislative Redistricting

NJ Globe staff and experts look at redistricting and what it means for New Jersey residents.

A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms

Spend some time around the shell-shocked journalists at the Chicago Tribune these days, and you’ll hear the same question over and over: How did it come to this?

When this hedge fund buys local newspapers, democracy suffers

Have you heard of the hedge fund Alden Global Capital?  If you’re a reader of local newspapers — particularly the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun or New York Daily News — you’re going to want to make sure the answer is yes.

Journey of the Heart: Saving Local Journalism?

By: Jerry Carton

Passage of the LJSA isn’t a panacea.  It’s not going to “save” local journalism.  But any efforts to salvage whatever we can for small papers is worth cheering.

For local nonprofit news, 2020 was a very good year, and 2021 will be even better

Five initiatives are directing money and talent to local newsrooms across the country. Can it make up for the decline of legacy newsrooms?

American Journalism Project Supports Local News "In Crisis"

The American Journalism Project CEO Sarabeth Berman discusses efforts to revive local media, which has been disrupted since the rise of the internet and social media.

COMMENTARY: Community newspapers: writing the first draft of history

By Linda Stamato

After years without a strong local voice, our community does not know itself and has no idea of important local issues or how the area is changing and challenged by growth and the impact of climate change.

Three years into nonprofit ownership, The Philadelphia Inquirer is still trying to chart its future​

Buyouts, rebranding, good journalism, and a vision still in progress: The Philadelphia Inquirer has had quite a summer. The metro newspaper business is still tough, even without a hedge fund or private equity pulling the strings.

Montclair Local Goes Nonprofit

Three years ago, even the New York Times noticed when a software engineer started a new weekly newspaper, the Montclair Local, to fill in the gap left when the Gannett chain bought the Montclair Times and slashed both staff and coverage. In December, the Montclair Local made news again when it became the first paper in New Jersey to convert to non-profit status.

COMMENTARY: Community newspapers: writing the first draft of history

Journalists from The Philadelphia Inquirer covered every angle of the riot at the US Capitol. Reporter Julia Terruso and photojournalists Jessica Griffin and Heather Khalifa documented the violent scene outside the Capitol, while Inquirer reporter Jonathan Tamari reported from inside the House chamber as the chaos ensued. 

Hudson Reporter abruptly closing after 40 years of local news reporting

The Hudson Reporter, a local weekly newspaper that has covered all 12 municipalities in the county for the past 40 years, is abruptly closing at the end of January 2023.

Could McClatchy become a nonprofit newspaper chain?

In February, McClatchy, the newspaper chain that owns titles including the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer, filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York.

Can Digital Business Models Save Local News?

As advertising support continues to dwindle, NJ’s news operations flirt with fresh revenue options.

Bowing to pressure, Google says it will pay publishers for news

For the better part of a decade, publishers have been begging (or threatening) Google, seeking compensation for the news they provide on its platform. And for all of those years, Google has adamantly refused—until now.

A Media Critic Focuses on the Crisis in Local News

Before she became a media columnist, Margaret Sullivan saw the crisis in the American newspaper industry from within. She spent roughly three decades at The Buffalo News and was the first woman to serve as its top editor, a job she held from 1999 to 2012.

Bowing to pressure, Google says it will pay publishers for news

June 26, 2020

Via Columbia Journalism Review

For the better part of a decade, publishers have been begging (or threatening) Google, seeking compensation for the news they provide on its platform. And for all of those years, Google has adamantly refused—until now.

Philanthropic Options for Newspaper Owners: A Practical Guide

Published October 7, 2019

From Knight Foundation

Struggling newspapers across the country are asking: How long can we stay in business? With profitable days disappearing in the rearview mirror, should we secure our financial prospects by formally converting to nonprofit status?

For Local News, Americans Embrace Digital but Still Want Strong Community Connection

March 26, 2019

Via Pew Research Center

The digital era is making its mark on local news. Nearly as many Americans today say they prefer to get their local news online as say they prefer to do so through the television set, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 34,897 U.S. adults conducted Oct. 15-Nov. 8, 2018, on the Center’s American Trends Panel and Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel.

Local Journalism in Crisis: Why America Must Revive Its Local Newsrooms

Published 2019

Via Brookings Institute

The economic challenges confronting local newspapers—which are uniquely positioned to devote the time and resources needed to undertake in-depth, investigative, and public interest journalism—has
contributed to significant coverage gaps in local news markets. Struggling financially, many newspapers around the country have closed in recent years.

Betting on the success of local journalism

June 13, 2018

Via Columbia Journalism Review

If you work in local news, you know the misery numbers. Good things spiral down: more than a quarter million jobs lost over the past three decades; year after year of double digit percentage declines in print circulation; tens of billions of dollars of lost advertising revenue. Bad things spike: news deserts, zombie news enterprises, fake news, public distrust.

Small-market newspapers in the digital age

November 15, 2017

Via the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia Journalism Review

Too often we tend to hear one single narrative about the state of newspapers in the United States. The newspaper industry is not one sector. While there are considerable variances between the myriad of outlets—whether national titles, major metros, dailies in large towns, alt weeklies, publications in rural communities, ethnic press, and so on—a major challenge for anyone trying to make sense of industry data is its aggregated nature.

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