What Works in Community News
Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate
Published on 9. January 2024
256 pages
978-0-8070-1019-8 (ISBN)
Description
A groundbreaking study of the journalism startups that are solving the local news crisis one community at a time
A must-read for activists, entrepreneurs, and journalists who want to start local news outlets in their communities
Local news is essential to democracy. Meaningful participation in civic life is impossible without it. However, local news is in crisis. According to one widely cited study, some 2,500 newspapers have closed over the last generation. And it is often marginalized communities of color who have been left without the day-to-day journalism they need to govern themselves in a democracy.
Veteran journalists Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy cut through the pessimism surrounding this issue, showing readers that new, innovative journalism models are popping up across the country to fill news deserts and empower communities. What Works in Community News examines more than a dozen of these projects, including:
- Sahan Journal, a digital publication dedicated to reporting on Minnesota's immigrant and refugee communities;
- MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit news outlet in Memphis, TN, focused on poverty, power, and public policy;
- New Haven Independent / WNHH / La Voz Hispana de Connecticut, a digital news project that expanded its reach in the New Haven community through radio and a Spanish-language partnership;
- Storm Lake Times Pilot, a print newspaper in rural Iowa innovating with a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit model; and
- Texas Tribune, once a pioneering upstart, now one of the most well-known-and successful-digital newsrooms in the country.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Ellen Clegg | Dan Kennedy
What Works in Community News
Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate
Book
11/2024
Beacon Press
€19.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Ellen Clegg | Dan Kennedy
What Works in Community News
Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate
Book
01/2024
Beacon Press
€28.50
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Ellen Clegg spent more than 3 decades at The Boston Globe and retired in 2018 after 4 years of running the opinion pages. In between stints at the Globe, she was deputy director of communications at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is a member of the steering committee for the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship at the International Women's Media Foundation. Ellen is co-founder and co-chair of Brookline.News, a nonprofit startup news organization in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Dan Kennedy is a professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University and a nationally known media commentator. He was a panelist on the GBH News television program Beat the Press (1998-2021) and also served as a weekly columnist for the network. He was also a columnist for The Guardian from 2007-2011. Dan is a recipient of the Yankee Quill Award from the New England Academy of Journalists and the James W. Carey Journalism Award from the Media Ecology Association.
Follow Ellen and Dan online at whatworks.news and on Twitter at @whatworks_nu.
Dan Kennedy is a professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University and a nationally known media commentator. He was a panelist on the GBH News television program Beat the Press (1998-2021) and also served as a weekly columnist for the network. He was also a columnist for The Guardian from 2007-2011. Dan is a recipient of the Yankee Quill Award from the New England Academy of Journalists and the James W. Carey Journalism Award from the Media Ecology Association.
Follow Ellen and Dan online at whatworks.news and on Twitter at @whatworks_nu.
Content
INTRODUCTION
The Local News Crisis Will Be Solved One Community at a Time
CHAPTER ONE
New Jersey: A Digital Innovator Joins Forces with a Public Television Powerhouse
CHAPTER TWO
Minneapolis, Minnesota: How Heated Competition Is Reviving Local News
CONVERSATIONS
Steven Waldman:
The president of Rebuild Local News outlines his vision for revitalizing community journalism.
CHAPTER THREE
Bedford, Massachusetts: A Homegrown News Site Comes into Its Own
CHAPTER FOUR
Denver, Colorado: The Sun Rises over a Complex Media Landscape
CONVERSATIONS
Kara Meyberg Guzman:
A former Alden editor talks about her reinvention as a publisher and her work as a local news advocate.
CHAPTER FIVE
Memphis, Tennessee: A Digital Newsroom Holds Power to Account
CHAPTER SIX
Mendocino County, California: A Rural Startup Seeks to Find Its Footing
CONVERSATIONS
Meredith Clark, PhD:
What does the future of local news look like? More diverse, with an emphasis on social change.
CHAPTER SEVEN
New Haven, Connecticut: A Longtime Digital News Project Takes to the Airwaves
CHAPTER EIGHT
Storm Lake, Iowa: A Print Newspaper with a Voice Fights for Survival
CONVERSATIONS
Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, PhD:
A scholar and serial entrepreneur looks to the future.
CHAPTER NINE
Texas: A High-Profile Behemoth Prepares for Its Second Act
EPILOGUE
The Future Is Already Here
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
The Local News Crisis Will Be Solved One Community at a Time
CHAPTER ONE
New Jersey: A Digital Innovator Joins Forces with a Public Television Powerhouse
CHAPTER TWO
Minneapolis, Minnesota: How Heated Competition Is Reviving Local News
CONVERSATIONS
Steven Waldman:
The president of Rebuild Local News outlines his vision for revitalizing community journalism.
CHAPTER THREE
Bedford, Massachusetts: A Homegrown News Site Comes into Its Own
CHAPTER FOUR
Denver, Colorado: The Sun Rises over a Complex Media Landscape
CONVERSATIONS
Kara Meyberg Guzman:
A former Alden editor talks about her reinvention as a publisher and her work as a local news advocate.
CHAPTER FIVE
Memphis, Tennessee: A Digital Newsroom Holds Power to Account
CHAPTER SIX
Mendocino County, California: A Rural Startup Seeks to Find Its Footing
CONVERSATIONS
Meredith Clark, PhD:
What does the future of local news look like? More diverse, with an emphasis on social change.
CHAPTER SEVEN
New Haven, Connecticut: A Longtime Digital News Project Takes to the Airwaves
CHAPTER EIGHT
Storm Lake, Iowa: A Print Newspaper with a Voice Fights for Survival
CONVERSATIONS
Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, PhD:
A scholar and serial entrepreneur looks to the future.
CHAPTER NINE
Texas: A High-Profile Behemoth Prepares for Its Second Act
EPILOGUE
The Future Is Already Here
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
