Local News & Information
This isn’t groundbreaking. Organizations like CoastAlaska, the Tiny News Collective, and Indiegraf have proven pieces of this. But all of them are missing the shared secret sauce I believe can elevate all hyperlocal newsrooms at once: professional employment and a PEO within a geographic cluster.
Yoni Greenbaum • The Sebastopol Protocol: A New Local News Stress Test
“We realized it’s almost better to empower a single editor in each market,” Heafy said, “and centralize the rest of the operations.”
Behind that shift was something few media startups bother to build: a literal playbook. Heafy described a printed manual, four to five inches thick, that detailed every step of launching and operating a local... See more
Behind that shift was something few media startups bother to build: a literal playbook. Heafy described a printed manual, four to five inches thick, that detailed every step of launching and operating a local... See more
When the conservative town of Ogdensburg, New York, lost its paper for two years recently, leaders there rallied to revive it. Republican leader James E. Reagen of St. Lawrence County suggested that misinformation spread more rapidly when the Ogdensburg paper shut down. “Once the Journal closed down so many people were turning to social media, to... See more
How high school sports coverage can save democracy - Poynter
The contract isn’t coming apart because people can’t access journalism, but because they increasingly don’t. People still want reliable, relevant information from sources independent of those in power in business and government. In fact, mountains of research suggest that people appreciate the ideal aspirations of journalism, and want news that... See more
Often that expansion is accelerated by regional advertisers, acquisitions of smaller newsletters, or local economic development groups that actively recruit 6AM City to launch in their communities.
Historically, the company focused on mid-tier cities — places with strong civic pride but limited competition — rather than media-saturated metros like... See more
Historically, the company focused on mid-tier cities — places with strong civic pride but limited competition — rather than media-saturated metros like... See more
for disaster preparedness - journalism tools and resources for sharing info during emergencies
Before the Watergate era, many journalists did not have college degrees. They were just smart people who knew how to get information. They were naturals at talking to people. And they knew enough about how things worked to recognize news.
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
Just a moment...
Audience growth, however, has rarely been romantic.
“We’ve gotten really good at Meta lead ads,” Heafy said. “We can acquire subscribers for under a dollar.”
Despite Facebook’s declining cultural cachet, Heafy remains blunt about its effectiveness. The company uses paid acquisition as a baseline, comparing every other growth tactic against it.
“We’ve gotten really good at Meta lead ads,” Heafy said. “We can acquire subscribers for under a dollar.”
Despite Facebook’s declining cultural cachet, Heafy remains blunt about its effectiveness. The company uses paid acquisition as a baseline, comparing every other growth tactic against it.