Local News & Information

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

“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

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

At the same time, local journalism is not always a pure civic good. It has historically excluded, demonized, and marginalized communities of color, poorer neighborhoods, and immigrant populations (Bedingfield and Forde, 2021). Local media often chases subscribers in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods while applying “if it bleeds it leads” logic in its... See more

Americans no longer have an accurate sense of their own society. For example, a few years ago, a poll showed that Americans, on average, think Muslims are seventeen times as large a portion of the U.S. population as they actually are. Another poll showed that most Americans think a majority of immigrants are in the country illegally (in fact, 77%... See more