Virginia, the American Press Institute’s home state, is filled with communities steeped in history. As we approach the nation’s 250th anniversary, local news can play a part in raising such history in our collective consciousness. And humanities-focused funders may find alignment with the growing experimentation in how local news intersects with local identity.
Local news organizations across the country are embarking on history-based projects to serve community needs and help sustain the business.
Cardinal News, a nonprofit news site in Virginia, has launched Cardinal 250, a podcast, newsletter and editorial strategy to report and spotlight overlooked contributions within the state that mattered to America’s march to independence. It shares “stories often absent from classroom history books,” beyond the well-known founders’ stories. Recent headlines touch on how the music of the revolution was played by both founders and enslaved musicians, the story of the first woman to publish a newspaper in Virginia, and the youth of those leading the revolution. Grants and sponsorship have helped enable this work.
That opportunity to both deepen a community’s ties to its roots and find new ways to build revenue matters in today’s local news landscape — where, as one data point shows, papers are closing at a rate of over two a week.
The intersection might be an opportunity for the effort to rally new philanthropic support for local news. If supporters of this cause want to attract new kinds of funders, this may be one such path.
We heard many opportunities for collaboration at our recent API Local News Summit on Local Identity, History and Sustainability. If news leaders want to engage history today, they might:
- Re-report history and engage wider parts of their community in how the past affects the present. Participants spoke of newsletters and reporting initiatives that delve into local history, the good and the bad. Some discussed how partnerships with universities have helped increase the opportunities via student reporting programs. People have donated to such causes.
- Partner with historical societies and museums to boost support and additional opportunities. Finding common cause, local media can hold fundraisers or joint membership with local history groups, expanding the reach of each. Museums were discussed as a strong collaborator and venue for events, as more news media embrace the role of convener.
- Lead history tours to make the past tangible and build support. Some media organizations have found opportunity in leading ticketed tours of a community’s history or organizing events that showcase diversity of food.
- Tap into news and community archives for relevant products and storytelling. Many news organizations sit on rich and sometimes century-old archives, which can be drawn upon for merchandise, books and other products — or re-used in editorial strategies to uplift the past.
- Help their community share their history in their own words. As in the tradition of oral history, news organizations can and do facilitate sponsorable and ticketed storytelling events. These events can build connection in addition to revenue.
- Use AI to make new connections and engagement. As technology develops, it may become easier to surface relevant stories in archives or in document troves. This might expand what’s possible in terms of engagement, support and knowledge.
Moreover, news leaders like those we gathered in Nashville signalled an openness to collaboration with experts who touch history and identity in different ways. At our event, they gravitated toward insights from organizations like History Co:Lab, which helps youth engage history to build better futures, and Human Flourishing Lab, which has studied the role of personal and collective nostalgia in people’s lives. They might also be inspired by the growing interest in public history.
In one stakeholder call for the event, we asked a potential participant to define the dividing line between journalism and history. He noted he wasn’t sure there was one. But local journalism, as indeed the “first draft of history” in our communities, seems a field open to exploring that relationship further.
At API, we will continue to learn and explore that relationship: how local media can help local communities further connect with their history, and in ways that help both the media and communities thrive. We expect this will be relevant not just in our home state of Virginia, but in areas across the country, all of which have rich and varied histories. If you are interested in hearing more, exploring how to learn from what we’ve done, or if you need help facilitating such conversations in your own region, state or community, feel free to reach out to Kevin Loker, senior director of program operations and partnerships, at kevin.loker@pressinstitute.org.
API publishes other resources on philanthropy and local journalism, including a 2024 report with the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University: “Philanthropy and local opinion journalism: A civic opportunity.” Follow for resources like these in our Need to Know newsletter.
