The American Press Institute is hosting a local summit on October 9-10 in Washington, D.C., to empower news leaders in enhancing residents’ leadership and influence over their community’s information ecosystem.
Individuals with deep ties to their community often want to make it better — but they may not see local journalism as a way they can contribute, or as an opportunity to further connect their professional and personal lives in that place. As local journalism looks to diversify its storytelling and audience — and faces challenges in both capacity and recruitment — news leaders have an opportunity to identify and create more on-ramps for community members to become journalists or otherwise contribute to local civic health. The potential to address the decline of local journalists in the U.S. may exist right in our neighborhoods. And, as communities across the country struggle with belonging and social isolation, such innovations might nurture a greater sense of civic “membership.”
This solutions-oriented convening will explore:
- Innovative ways local media are building up and recruiting local community members — be they influencers, organizers or young people — into creating journalism
- Frameworks from outside of journalism that help equip local residents with skills, opportunities and entrepreneurship in their own communities
- Possibilities and untapped potential to create replicable pathways into journalism that empower people who already care about their communities
API’s Local News Summits are designed for news leaders who are actively working on the challenge and willing to share what they’ve learned (both in success and failure). They are highly participatory, invitation-based events that provide a welcoming and collaborative space to think boldly about the role of the free press in the future of our communities. We anticipate 80 diverse local media decision-makers and experts from outside of journalism will participate in this convening. Our participant limit encourages actionable ideas in an environment that facilitates open discussion.
While our summits are invitation-based, we want to grow this network.
If you are in a local or community-centered news organization and are working on projects that empower community voices, open the newsroom doors to residents or create pathways for your neighbors to become storytellers and active participants in their civic ecosystem, we encourage you to apply below for a remaining spot.
Make sure to submit your application below by Friday, August 29, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Please note that seats are limited for funders and journalism support organizations. Sponsors and supporters help make these interactive events accessible and increase the public resources we create from these events. We are grateful to Subtext and Influencer Journalism for their support of this summit.
Have questions? Reach out to Kevin Loker, API’s senior director of program operations and partnerships, at events@pressinstitute.org.
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These partnerships can help rebuild trust in local media by including more voices and perspectives, and they offer a foundation for repair, restoration and reinvention. They weave the community together, fostering multidirectional conversations, a shared sense of place and joint ownership over our civic future.
Reaching people across age groups is a complex proposition for news leaders. It involves identifying issues and topics that resonate with all ages, creating content on multiple platforms, and finding ways for people to move past assumptions about one another. But the current moment in America demands this kind of work.
The American Press Institute is convening its second API Local News Summit of 2025, addressing a challenge shared by local and community-based media of all types.
