Today, more than 1,300 U.S. local newsrooms are participating in Local News Day, a national day of action to uplift local news. During a time when news deserts continue to grow and the decline of local news has been tied to higher rates of loneliness, the American Press Institute will always embrace an opportunity to celebrate the important work being done by journalists across the country.
Local News Day highlights five ways these organizations matter within their communities. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite examples of this work in each category.
Stay informed.
Thoughtful, community-driven elections coverage is one way newsrooms give people the information they need to make decisions that affect their daily lives.
- Four news leaders who attended the API Local News Summit on Elections, Trust and Democracy shared ideas on election engagement that can lead to longer-term relationships.
- The Dallas Morning News gave new or infrequent voters personally curated stories that equipped them to have a voice.
- A mission statement and a dedicated team guided KXLY’s improved election coverage for viewers in Spokane, Wash., and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
- THE CITY worked with a trusted messenger to create a video series that helped New Yorkers better understand the issues so they felt motivated to cast their ballot.
Ensure accountability.
Solutions reporting that involves reader input connects communities while holding civic leaders to account.
- The Arizona Daily Star created a solutions beat to build reader engagement and better serve its community.
- WITF, based in Pennsylvania’s capital, used democracy reporting to build trust and tamp down political rhetoric.
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel replaced opinion content with solutions journalism through its Ideas Lab, with the goal of better informing and engaging with the community.
Celebrate community.
Local newsrooms can help define a community’s identity, culture and history through coverage, events and giving locals a platform to tell their stories.
- Four attendees of the API Local News Summit on Inclusion, Belonging and Local Leadership wrote about how they partner with community expertise and talent to strengthen local journalism.
- News leaders who attended the API Local News Summit on Local Identity, History and Sustainability use community history and culture to build products, services and experiences that drive revenue.
- The API Local News Summit on Rural Journalism, Community and Sustainability inspired news leaders to write about how they’re convening community — and seeing loyalty and revenue follow.
- The Kansas City Star experimented with its local entertainment coverage, surprising and delighting its readers.
- The Minnesota Star Tribune organized a series of events in communities across the state to connect with residents and build relevance.
Empower voices.
Intergenerational problem-solving is one way to shape and increase civic engagement. Engaging community members in the storytelling process is another.
- Five local news leaders who attended the API Local News Summit on Civic Discourse Across Generations shared how they represent and include community perspectives from members of different age groups.
- The Concord Monitor brought new voices to its opinion section by hosting a writing workshop series.
- Vermont Public reached voters and answered their questions through an outreach partnership with an online platform.
Build trust.
Local news is a common ground where shared facts about a shared place create the conditions for people to connect.
- Pittsburgh’s Public Source made community-centered journalism a newsroom-wide effort.
- Down in the County uses photojournalism to build community in rural North Carolina.
- Attendees of the API Local News Summit on Civic Discourse Across Generations discussed how local news clubs can build stronger communities.
- Three journalists who serve rural communities shared how they build trust in their environments.
As we celebrate across the country on Local News Day today, on April 9, and every day here at API, we encourage you to lift up the ways your news organization has impacted your community and share how local news has helped you.
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Most newsrooms have one impact story. They tell it the same way to everyone, and then they're surprised when it lands with some audiences and dies in the room with others. The story wasn't wrong. It just never got translated.
News leaders who say they want their journalism to help people make decisions and thrive must help their community maintain a sustainable relationship with civic information, which is very different from a newsroom that aims to get people to consume more information.
To understand what’s working and what challenges newsrooms continue to face, API spoke to people from The Boston Globe, The Texas Tribune, the Minnesota Star Tribune and The Seattle Times about their strategies around subscriptions and membership.
