The 2023 State of Local News Report offers hope as it presents 17 outlets that provide their communities with excellent reporting essential to democracy while progressing in the quest for stable, sustainable business models.
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Investigations, Collaborations and Alligators Exceeding its DNAinfo origins, Block Club Chicago hits 5th anniversary doubling down on the power of neighborhood reporting
In June, 2023, Block Club Chicago—a nonprofit newsroom that has been accumulating reporters, readers and accolades—celebrated its 5th anniversary. The lessons to be learned from ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Sweet Homepage Alabama AL.com commits to digital distribution, statewide coverage and gains readers, Pulitzers
Several factors distinguish AL.com from other news outlets featured as Bright Spots in the 2023 State of Local News Report: AL.com is the only one ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
The iPad Solution Arkansas Democrat-Gazette protects its newsroom and news hole by convincing readers to give up print for tablets bought by the paper
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s leadership did not believe it could cut its way to long-term sustainability by offering subscribers less while charging them more, so it ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Filling the reporting gaps in San Benito County BenitoLink executive director Leslie David discusses the challenges and rewards of delivering vital local news on a tight budget
As nearby daily newspapers retreated from covering the small cities, towns and rural areas of San Benito County, residents lost coverage of local government and ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Banking on Digital Growth Boston Globe proves a regional paper can boost business via online subscribers
A decade ago John Henry, the Boston Globe’s entrepreneurial owner, noticed the one growth area amid the news company’s business: digital subscriptions. The Globe has ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Serving the Underserved Launched from a kitchen table, Carolina Public Press delivers accountability journalism across North Carolina
Started at former business reporter Angie Newsome’s kitchen table a dozen years ago, Carolina Public Press has spread from Appalachia to become an award-winning statewide ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Funding National, Reporting Local Mississippi Today delivers Pulitzer-winning accountability and investigative journalism with a boost from philanthropy
Despite being based in the nation’s poorest state, the nonprofit Mississippi Today has filled reporting gaps left by other gutted newsrooms—and won a Pulitzer Prize—by ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Text all about it Candice Fortman tells how Detroit’s Outlier Media delivers news and receives tips via cell phones
Outlier Media’s news beats, the stories it reports and the way it delivers and receives news and information all rise from listening to the audience ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Thriving as a nonprofit The Philadelphia Inquirer spreads the news with a robust staff and collaborations
America’s largest newspaper company under nonprofit ownership, the Philadelphia Inquirer has a staff of more than 200 journalists, which dwarfs those of metro newsrooms owned ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
‘New Way Forward’ in South Carolina The Post and Courier expands, collaborates and builds digital subscriptions to support its statewide newsroom
While other local news outlets shutter amid declines in local advertising and print revenues, the Charleston, S.C.-based Post and Courier has been extending its reach. ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Forging Connecticut Connections The 5th generation Record-Journal and its RJ Media outlets are building relationships with audiences old and new
The fifth-generation, family-owned company behind Connecticut’s Record-Journal plus seven weeklies, two news websites and a digital marketing agency has developed a business model that makes ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Rallying Around the Recorder Award-winning Virginia paper covers Appalachian communities with the support of readers who appreciate its value
Despite high poverty rates and low broadband penetration in the northwestern Virginia communities it covers, the Recorder continues to serve its readers 146 years after ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Finding profit in a financially challenged region Richland Source CEO Jay Allred discusses how diversifying revenue has created a model worth emulating
Richland County, Ohio, is far from a wealthy place. The poverty rate is above the national average while the median household income and the percentage ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Threading the Seattle Needle CEO/Publisher Frank Blethen discusses how the for-profit Times gets donors to support vital reporting
The privately owned, for-profit Seattle Times has turned to donations and grants to support news coverage in areas that don’t yield commercial business revenue, such ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Moving into the suburbs As major metro outlets retreat from suburban coverage, Shawnee Mission Post publisher Jay Senter finds readers willing to pay
Suburbs are losing their news despite their affluence, and Jay Senter, publisher of Shawnee Mission Post in the Kansas City metro area, saw an opportunity. ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Minneapolis homecoming and revival Retired publisher Mike Klingensmith tells how local ownership saved the Star Tribune
Mike Klingensmith was recruited home to Minneapolis in 2010 to lead the Star Tribune shortly after its investment-fund lenders bought it out of bankruptcy protection. ...
Local News Bright Spots 2023
Rethinking the Texas Tribune model Trailblazing nonprofit digital-news organization regroups after laying off 10% of its staff
Layoffs at the Texas Tribune, long held up as a model for digital public service journalism, sparked worry across the country. After a challenging 14th year, ...