The American Press Institute is hosting a local summit on June 23-24 in Pittsburgh to identify and advance solutions that help local news organizations track engagement and represent voices across the geographies they serve.
An inclusive democracy starts at the local level: with representation and engagement around debates and decisions that affect Americans deeply and daily. Local media play an important role in enabling such civic discourse, yet their impact may get lost amid today’s complex information landscape. While the story of local news is often one of contraction, how can innovative local media — especially those expanding into new neighborhoods, counties and other geographies — measure and communicate the impact of their reach and role in local civic health? And as our nation continues to pursue a “more perfect union” than it began 250 years ago, how can better data and impact metrics contribute to a more resilient and representative local information landscape?
The API Local News Summit on Measuring Impact for Civic Discourse will explore:
- Innovative ways news leaders are measuring and communicating trust and impact, especially as they seek to expand into additional neighborhoods, counties or other geographies
- Frameworks from outside of journalism that may help news leaders build or measure trusted relationships and gain mission-aligned supporters in new places
- Untapped potential to use news organization-collected data to bolster and create more representative and robust local news ecosystems
API Local News Summits are highly participatory, invitation-based events that provide a welcoming and collaborative space for media leaders to think boldly about the role of the free press in the future of our communities.
We anticipate that 70 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. The peer network created through this summit will receive follow-up support from API after the news leaders return home and as part of programming API plans around this topic.
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 measurement-minded in identifying impact and opportunities for growth, we encourage you to apply below for a remaining spot by Friday, May 15. Job titles for suggested attendees include, as examples: Chief Impact Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Executive Director, Publisher, Audience Editor, Audience Development Manager, Product Manager, Head of Innovation, Development Director. Local-focused creators and independent journalists, whether collaborating with local media on these themes or not, are also encouraged to apply.
Please also consider applying if your organization is doing any of the following, or similar work:
- Tracking the geographic spread of our audience
- Tracking the representation of the voices and sources in our reporting
- Capturing community feedback and qualitative impact (e.g., testimonials, conversations, net promoter scores)
- Measuring change in civic knowledge, attitudes or behavior
- Using impact data to guide editorial decisions or communicate value to funders, partners, advertisers
- Using AI to scrape, automate or aggregate data, read civic signals or trigger civic actions
- Tracking indirect or long-term impact of our community engagement, including repeat engagement or retention
- Connecting journalism to economic or community outcomes
- Measuring the quality of online civic discourse (e.g., tone, responsiveness, exchange of ideas)
Due to space and to prioritize learning and exchange among news leaders, please note that seats are limited for journalism support organizations and researchers. Support for 2026 API Local News Summits is made possible by a range of sponsors and supporters, including Regional Champions LOR Foundation for the Mountain West and Wallace House Center for Journalists at the University of Michigan for the Great Lakes region. Support from the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Trib Total Media, Newspack and Report for America will help keep this event accessible and expand the public-facing resources produced from this gathering.
Have questions? Reach out to the API summit team at events@pressinstitute.org.
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Each week will offer a combination of frameworks to inspire new approaches to your election coverage and strategic suggestions you can put in place right away. Look for an idea that aligns with your organization’s mission or your community’s needs, and dig into resources to try it out.
