In the absence of professional journalism—in so-called news deserts across the country—critical information systems are left to the algorithmic biases of a few social media giants. Dig further, though, and you’ll find block club newsletters, school newspapers, library workshops, public access broadcasts, grassroots community teach-ins, and... See more

Participatory journalism aims to involve the communities traditionally ignored by local news, empowering them to observe government directly to improve both representation and engagement (Green, Holliday and Rispoli, 2023). The reorientation of journalism from gatekeepers of information dissemination to facilitators of information gathering is... See more

On the local news side, there are exciting experiments around community media and re-envisioning local news not just to be something that we bring back in its old form, but something that is co-created in a participatory manner by communities.