What Works in Community News

Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate

By: Ellen Clegg, Dan Kennedy

Narrated by: Chris Baetens

A groundbreaking study of the journalism startups that are solving the local news crisis one community at a time

A must-read for activists, entrepreneurs, and journalists who want to start local news outlets in their communities

Local news is essential to democracy. Meaningful participation in civic life is impossible without it. However, local news is in crisis. According to one widely cited study, some 2,500 newspapers have closed over the last generation. And it is often marginalized communities of color who have been left without the day-to-day journalism they need to govern themselves in a democracy.

Veteran journalists Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy cut through the pessimism surrounding this issue, showing readers that new, innovative journalism models are popping up across the country to fill news deserts and empower communities. What Works in Community News examines more than a dozen of these projects, including:

• Sahan Journal, a digital publication dedicated to reporting on Minnesota’s immigrant and refugee communities;
• MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit news outlet in Memphis, TN, focused on poverty, power, and public policy;
• New Haven Independent / WNHH / La Voz Hispana de Connecticut, a digital news project that expanded its reach in the New Haven community through radio and a Spanish-language partnership;
• Storm Lake Times Pilot, a print newspaper in rural Iowa innovating with a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit model; and
• Texas Tribune, once a pioneering upstart, now one of the most well-known—and successful—digital newsrooms in the country.

Through a blend of on-the-ground reporting and interviews, Clegg and Kennedy show how these operations found seed money and support, and how they hired staff, forged their missions, and navigated challenges from the pandemic to police intimidation to stand as the last bastion of collective truth—and keep local news in local hands.

©2024 Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy (P)2024 Beacon Press

Critic reviews

“For readers who despair at the collapse of traditional media nationwide, this survey is a bolster; for journalists looking to create such viable news sources in their own communities, it’s a highly useful road map.” —Booklist, Starred Review

“A fresh, optimistic, and necessary exploration of what really works in the crucially important realm of local news.” —Margaret Sullivan, author of Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy

“A great and important book . . . Provides great hope that the field is full of passionate, brilliant people who are going to figure this out.” —Steven Waldman, founder of Rebuild Local News and cofounder of Report for America

Crucial to democracy

They tackle an Important subject with a healthy array of examples. There’s hope for journalism!