Local News & Information

To say that Americans pay for civic participation and not news is to say that they care about paying for membership in a community, not digital content.

Journalists are needed so people have access to the information and answers they need to guide their lives.

Stop trying to make social networks succeed, stop dreaming of a universal network. Instead, invest in your own communities. Help them make long-term, custom and sustainable solutions. Try to achieve small and local successes instead of pursuing an imaginary universal one. It will make you happier.

It will make all of us happier.

Local journalism shouldn’t just close gaps. It should help residents understand how to show up better at public meetings. When people know the backstory, civic participation closes the loop.

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

Dewey’s faith in the potential of institutions that treat democratic knowledge not as a problem to be managed but as a capacity to be cultivated is harder to carry right now. But the alternative is accepting Lippmann’s premises wholesale, conceding that the only question worth asking is who manages the herd and how.

I was struck by how natural the idea of serving the public felt inside libraries. I had spent much of my career pushing, prodding, arguing, fighting, pleading and even begging for community participation in journalism. And yet, despite claiming to be “the voice of the people,” many news organizations are incredibly hesitant or don’t actually want... See more