Hopeful News for Local Journalism

Over Seventy Local News Sites Launched Online Since 2020

Title: More than 70 local newsrooms launched during the pandemic
Author: Kristen Hare
Date: December 27, 2021

Link directly to the article on poynter.org

Summary and Observation

This article provides hopeful news for local journalism as we step into the new year. According to Kristen Hare there were “more than 70 local newsrooms launched in the United States in 2020 and 2021” and in addition to that there were “more than 50 local newsletters” which began publishing online as well.

In many communities the pandemic “clarified the value of reliable information” and the site features more than a hundred links to local news organizations throughout the country. This is a fun website to surf through and to find out what’s going on in any number of “local” places such as Bladen County, North Carolina, or Sioux Falls, North Dakota. One example of what you may find yourself reading is Public Square which is a New Jersey based newspaper that describes itself as “a local nonprofit newsroom founded by a team of Black women with over 40 years of combined experience in the nonprofit, journalism, and community organizing sectors.”

It would make it easier to search if these titles were listed by the state they were published in, rather than alphabetical order , but other than that small quibble, it is an excellent resource. I have noticed that I found myself reading more local news since the lockdowns started in 2020, and I did not see my two current favorites The Stranger and Post Alley on the list for Washington state, and so I’ll add them here.

Link to Article

Last Updated January 4, 2022