How local opinion journalism serves civic discourse and democracy

Kevin Loker, senior director for program operations and partnerships at the American Press Institute, recently completed a visiting fellowship with the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. His project explored the reimagining of local opinion journalism — and philanthropy’s role in the trend. Last week we published the introduction to a report publishing soon. Below is another excerpt: a framework for describing what local opinion journalism does for democracy. 

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API initially was an affiliate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Its fourth-ever seminar led to the creation of the National Conference of Editorial Writers. Photo: API Archives

Opinion editors rarely gather in person now, a casualty of a field weakened economically and working to adapt since the rise of the internet and other factors since at least the early 2000s. Members of the Association of Opinion Journalists, a trade association for such journalists and editors, gathered annually since 1947, when it began as The National Conference of Editorial Writers (and as history has it, API played a role in kick-starting NCEW). But AOJ merged in 2016 into the American Society of News Editors, later the News Leaders Association, which itself dissolved in 2024.

Some exceptions include two gatherings in the past five years by the American Press Institute, and an event for this fellowship to discuss the trend of philanthropic support that’s helping reimagine local opinion journalism.

One thing our conversation in Washington, D.C., helped illuminate: the value local opinion journalism might provide for U.S. democracy.

Here is a summary of what came up with the 25 editors, researchers, and philanthropists during that March 2024 gathering.

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Local journalism has many functions. It long has. At the American Press Institute, we’ve written about how it’s time for media to embrace their role as community convener.

Media can convene community members in many different ways. Some of this might happen on the “news” side, where journalists engage community members in person to inform the focus of their beat or to complement something already published. A reporter may meet with teachers, parents, and students to inform education coverage, or they might hold a community event to share the results of their investigation on an educational policy and its implementation.

One discussion at the fellowship convening focused on the impact that robust opinion journalism can have for local communities.

Opinion sections are natural spots for convening; in fact, it’s what the section is for. Their structure, at its best, uplifts what different people care about and why, and it stewards conversation about matters of importance to local communities. That can be done in published columns and letters. Increasingly, it is also done in digitally native formats like video or through in-person gatherings.

Is opinion journalism’s contribution to a local community different from other parts of local journalism? In our conversations, at least three distinct functions emerged: modeling, equipping, and facilitating. Done well, local opinion journalism can:

• Model healthy civic discourse
• Equip residents for healthy civic discourse
• Facilitate healthy civic discourse

Below I describe why each function of local opinion journalism matters for community members and U.S. democracy as a whole, and I provide examples of news organizations demonstrating the function.

Model healthy civic discourse

So many challenges face our communities and country today. As we face them, many people feel divided, particularly across political lines. As a stark example, few people would be okay with one of their children marrying someone from the opposing political party, a significant shift from a generation ago.

Few people are confident in public leadership on civic matters, too. As another stark example, the majority of the country in June 2024 described both U.S. presidential candidates from the two major political parties as “embarrassing.” Even more than a third of each candidate’s supporters described their candidate as embarrassing.

People lack examples that model healthy civic discourse.

Social norms, however, matter. In many cases, we become what we see. At a minimum, it influences us.

Done well, opinion sections that engage a wide range of community members might influence social norms. If you see people respectfully making a reasonable argument across lines of difference, or better yet, talking across them productively, that might influence behavior. It can show people who want such conversation that they aren’t alone, and it might “shame” others into acting respectfully.

We’re influenced most by norms of people in our “group,” whether that’s a church, political party, or something else that unifies us with others. If you can make it a norm in your local community that you engage in civic matters in a thoughtful, solutions-seeking way, what might that do for you and your neighbors?

Media influence norms. They also have wide reach. Local opinion journalism, rooted in civic values and expressed either in text or new innovative formats, might be a prime way to model civic discourse that’s healthy.

Local media that’s done it: The Tennessean

The Tennessean in Nashville affirmatively states that its opinion section values healthy civic discourse—and it takes action to model it, too.

Seven years ago, The Tennessean editorial board introduced Civility Tennessee, a set of guiding principles that its opinion and engagement director, David Plazas, told me “ensure we hold true to promoting civil discourse, welcoming diverse viewpoints, and amplifying underrepresented views.” It’s a written commitment of what will ground the section, rooted in “civility,” not just as mere politeness but as the duty of “citizens” to uphold, sustain, and challenge society.

The Tennessean often reminds its audience of the commitment. Plazas, in July 2024, noted to me he referenced these values in two recent columns, one on what can be a divisive local issue (school vouchers) and one on the national matter of standing against political violence (following the assassination attempt on former President Trump). Even the simple act of writing and linking to the values may model something important in our divided times.

The Tennessean also focuses its resources based on that commitment. Plazas is a leader in engagement, hosting listening sessions and community events in partnership with many local groups. For their Nashville Mayoral Debates series in 2023, his team worked with the local News Channel 5, League of Women Voters, Belmont University, and American Baptist College. Collaborations can show commitment.

Importantly, The Tennessean’s opinion section also models civic discourse online, outside the column format. Earlier this year, its “Tennessee Voices” video podcast held its 400th interview. These simple video conversations between Plazas and local community leaders demonstrate healthy conversation, and the large scale of the participation (again 400 episodes) may help show conversation is a norm.

“There is a desire by ‘Tennessee Voices’ video podcast guests and the audience to hold or watch authentic conversations with people in leadership positions,” said Plazas. He started the podcast during the pandemic, and, by design, the format has not changed since then. Plazas and the podcast guests discuss the guest’s work or mission, their self-care routine, and their origin stories.

“Video is a way to connect with our audience as attention spans have been shrinking and we get into some tough issues while demonstrating how to do so in a civil and productive way,” said Plazas.

Equip residents for healthy civic discourse

If we want robust civic engagement in this country, we need Americans to feel empowered with a range of civic skills.

Voting is one important civic behavior, an action many people may want to see increased. But it’s far from the only behavior we need for democracy to function as it should.

Democracy requires organizing. It requires participation, awareness, and negotiation, in addition to voting. And it requires persuasion and good argumentation.

Nearly every level of democracy in this country requires people to join together, and almost all require making a case to others. People can join a movement or vote based on a compelling argument, and politicians and people should deliberate over the cases for policies or other paths forward.

Unless we want shouting matches or are okay with people making misleading arguments or ones built on negative characteristics like fear or bias, we need good argumentation. People need to be able to recognize good and flawed cases. And if we want democracy practiced at every level, they should be able to make compelling arguments themselves.

Arguments matter for “democracy,” yes, but they also help us individually and socially, too. Who doesn’t want to be able to lay out the best case for a more personal decision for a family member or friend? Who doesn’t want to be able to deliberate well at a meeting of their religious council, homeowner’s association, or workplace?

But in a country lacking good argumentation, we need more places to learn it and practice it. An engaged local opinion section, one with resources to help a range of community members share their voice and share it well, may be one training ground.

Local media that’s done it: Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star puts in work to represent a wide range of voices in its opinion section—and to help those new to the craft to make arguments that may be heard.

“People live in Kansas City for a reason,” said Yvette Walker when she joined the paper as vice president and editorial page director one year ago. “It’s a great city, but things are happening all around them, and I think it’s up to us to help them understand and ask questions.”

Kevin Loker (left) speaks with Yvette Walker (right), vice president and editorial page editor at the Kansas City Star, about ideas participants raised around philanthropy and local opinion journalism.

As the editor, she and her deputy help people get their voices heard. They pay special attention to people in underrepresented communities and different age groups and encourage them to submit columns.

At the Washington, D.C., event and in a subsequent interview, we discussed the work that goes into helping people who are not used to opinion writing share their perspectives productively on important local matters.

Not everyone who has an opinion to share may be experienced or comfortable with writing. Kansas City Star editors seek to retain the author’s voice while making gentle suggestions about sentences and organization of the piece. Coaching the writer helps improve the content for the reader. It’s also something that writers can take back to the people they serve.

“It helps them in their community to begin to understand how to think about their own message and their own issues,” said Walker. “They can use that in many other ways. They can use that in their own social media, and they can use that in any marketing that they may want to do for this community.”

Some contributions arrive as drafts in good shape, with limited editing needed. But as the paper works to diversify voices from nonofficial sources that aren’t experienced in such formats, the coaching is important.

“That is going to take a little bit of time, but it’s worth it because we want people from the community to see themselves represented in the Star,” said Walker.

Facilitate healthy civic discourse

Whenever one faces a challenge that affects multiple stakeholders, it’s hard to find a situation that makes many people feel content.

But it’s a lot harder if there’s no structure or mechanism at all.

Mediators and moderators—be they people or institutions—help corral unfiltered opinions and channel them in constructive directions. Having a third-party structure and guiding the problem-solving or reflection of others helps people participate and share. It also helps things go fairly or equitably. Someone facilitating discussion can enforce rules, provide stability, and enrich the conversation and connection-making by what they see from their more-removed position.

Local communities benefit from structure and processes to help guide conversation and deliberation. A government can provide some level of this, but it’s easy enough to imagine how independence from some of a government’s incentives can help open deliberation about what’s good for community members as well.

But who has the reach to make a facilitated forum work? Media outlets are a good candidate for this—they have a built-in audience and built-in mechanisms for communicating, and many have a built-in forum already in the opinion section, one ready to be repurposed for more active facilitation on and off the page.

Local media that’s done it: The Coloradoan

The Fort Collins Coloradoan reimagined its opinion section for the digital age by creating an “opinion forum” built on a digital commenting platform—and deliberation expertise from a local university.

You could say, though, that the collaboration was born of necessity. Like other papers, staff reductions limited what the paper was able to publish, including for opinion.

“But [the section’s] absence as a community forum was missed by community stakeholders and our staff,” wrote then editor Eric Larsen in a 2023 piece for the American Press Institute website Better News. With the help of Martín Carcasson and the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University, the paper launched Coloradoan Conversations.

Events for deliberation can happen in-person as well as online. (Rebecca Powell/Fort Collins Coloradoan)

The experiment, which the American Press Institute helped support with a small grant, focused conversation online on key local issues. The Coloradoan staff, with assistance from the CPD, wrote recaps summarizing the discussion, drawing key insights, highlighting specific comments, and working to move the conversation forward. “The analysis borrows from research on deliberation and argumentation,” Carcasson wrote for API, “engaging  questions of fact, bringing out underlying values and tensions, highlighting key themes, and evaluating the quality of the interaction.”

The approach, thanks to its incorporation of deliberative expertise, raised the level of discourse. It also helped drive subscriptions to the paper and was lauded by opinion editors at API’s 2023 summit as something many local media should pursue.

The collaboration, however, is on hiatus after the paper’s corporate owner ended use of the commenting system that the project relied on as well as staff changes.

“Overall, the project was a learning experience,” Carcasson told me in July 2024. “I think we sparked a lot of interesting discussions but ultimately never quite got our legs under us. We still believe in the model, however, and are actively looking to develop its next iteration.” The Center for Public Deliberation continues to work with other Colorado news outlets on projects, including “Above the Noise,” a statewide initiative on local election coverage and civic discourse.

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Each of these arguments may speak to why a community member—or funder—might see value in a local opinion section. But embracing all three at once would have benefits for local media as well.

Each function helps the organization’s prospects for sustainability and impact. Modeling healthy civic discourse might provide hope to community members and attract more interest and potential readership. Equipping more residents for civic discourse might give additional people a positive experience with their local media, making them more likely to turn to or engage with it in the future. And facilitating healthy civic discourse might increase the organization’s impact locally, boosting motivations for subscriptions or membership or offering new opportunities for partnership and support.

Those looking to reimagine local opinion journalism along these lines can use this curated list of evidence and research findings to inform—or make a case for—their work.

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