As the number of local news outlets dwindled, philanthropists made major investments in new models and solutions. Policymakers at the state and national levels considered programs to address digital and journalistic inequalities.
Public radio stations merged with heritage daily newspapers and established a template for collaborations that will expand their reach into communities that are at risk of becoming news deserts. And some digital start-ups forged promising business models.
News Events
Amid the grim news about declining newspaper readership and revenue, local media entrepreneurs have been devising promising new business models. But they face daunting challenges, including the costs of launching digital news outlets and securing enough audience support to attract commercial or philanthropic funding for long-term sustainability.
Meanwhile, the country’s smallest and most rural communities have been hardest hit. A recent review of the nation’s 70 smallest newspapers found that three dozen of them have no local journalists on staff at all. These “ghost” newspapers leave residents in their communities without a trusted source of local news and information. They are also overlooked by investors, philanthropists, and industry executives who are seeking opportunities in communities with higher advertising revenues or reliable broadband access.
In the past few years, many local newspapers have forged promising new strategies to grow their audience and support their journalism. And a growing number of communities are developing local news alternatives, from community-owned digital start-ups to ethnic and public radio outlets.
As the demographic makeup of the nation shifts, these new outlets can meet the needs of their audiences in ways that traditional news organizations can’t. For example, Sol de Valle in Colorado brings together a network of for-profit and nonprofit news organizations to produce local Spanish-language news for the large Latino population.
Local Insights
Local Insight is an online mapping and reporting tool providing instant access to data at the neighbourhood level. It delivers maps, data visuals, and area profile reports for standard, user-defined, and custom areas.
The Local Insight platform can be used by a range of users – you don’t need to be a statistician to get value from it. It can save time and resources by providing a single, central source of data for your team or strategic partnerships.
Many local news organizations are struggling to acquire digital audiences or sustain their business models. Others are in the process of forming new, promising business plans and launching innovative products. Some have even turned to philanthropy to help them survive and expand coverage of their communities.
However, these initiatives can’t solve all the challenges facing local journalism. A lack of community investment is one of the biggest obstacles. A new national law aims to address this issue by establishing a tax incentive to encourage private investments in community-based media companies.
Other policy changes could also make a difference, including a new public broadcasting initiative designed to promote social change and the introduction of more digital training for community reporters. But the most significant change may be a large public investment in broadband that will connect more rural communities to the internet and allow them to access more local news sources.
Community Engagement
Community engagement is the process of collaborating with individuals, groups, and organizations in the community to solve problems or address issues that affect their collective well-being. It is a two-way interaction that builds trust, fosters communication, and empowers communities to actively participate in decision-making. It is commonly employed in the fields of urban planning, public policy development, healthcare, education, and more.
Community Engagement is rooted in the democratic principle that everyone who is affected by an issue should be informed, consulted, and empowered to contribute to the decision-making that impacts their lives. It is a framework for civic participation that promotes social justice, supports citizen empowerment and participation, and is critical to well-functioning democracies globally.
Effective Community Engagement relies on a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis focuses on understanding the underlying context and motivations behind community responses. This can be accomplished through open-ended survey questions, focus group discussions, and anecdotal evidence. Quantitative analysis, on the other hand, focuses on metrics and data collected during and after engagement activities. These data can be used to evaluate engagement efforts against defined objectives and provide insights on how to improve future efforts.
While contact pages are often considered a must-have for websites, they don’t have to be boring. You can use them to help your audience solve a problem, answer their questions, and support conversions. For example, this no-frills contact page from AI company Medium uses a sleek design and intuitive layout to deliver the information visitors need—and no more. Users can select their question type in the first drop-down box and then be directed to a custom form or a topic help center that they can browse at their own pace. CAPTCHA verification and ProtonMail email contact options provide additional layers of security for service seekers.