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Digital Startup Fills News Niche in Wheeling, West Virginia

John Miller

April 19, 2021 |

The Daily Yonder |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Wheeling, West Virginia

Ledenews.com is one of the more than 80 online-only news sites started in 2019 to fill the void in news deserts. The site covers sports, politics, traffic, and local stories about local people in the Wheeling, WV area. The site cost $5,000 to start and now brings in about $60,000 a year in advertising, with 1,500 to 2,000 readers a day, a rate of growth that suggests profitability within a few years. The site publishes around 10 stories a week, including three major features, and all of the news is geared towards local issues not covered by other publications, including holding local officials accountable.

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Enterprising Solutions: Local Paper Builds, Benefits from Facebook Boom

Ian Allen

April 13, 2021 |

Grady Newsource |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oconee, Georgia

The strategic use of social media has helped The Oconee Enterprise increase subscribers, and therefore revenue. When a new issue of the paper is ready, a low-resolution preview of the front page is posted, with essentially only headlines visible, to incentivize people to purchase a paper or subscribe online. Editors also post breaking news directly on Facebook rather than the paper’s website. Its total page likes went up from 3,500 to its current audience of over 7,300, and the number of subscribers is up as well.

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Indiana publisher irrigates the news desert

Brier Dudley

April 09, 2021 |

The Seattle Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Indiana

A wealthy investor bought 21 local publications in Indiana to prevent them from closing, an increasingly common trend in the U.S. The 21 Indiana publications employ about 60 people and have relied on a model to be profitable that includes hyper-local reporting. The newspapers don’t shy away from journalism that breaks news and holds officials accountable, but their focus is on “refrigerator journalism,” reporting on local events, such as Little League games, that people want to clip and hang on their refrigerators. Some have also transitioned from daily to twice-weekly publications for profitability.

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With free print newspaper, Indian farmers record their protest

Rina Chandran

February 04, 2021 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, New Delhi

Because of internet shutdowns, six friends created a bilingual newspaper to document and record the farmer protests in India. Thousands of farmers have been protesting for weeks about the government’s new agricultural laws. Since there are many older farmers and the government has blocked the internet, they give out free print copies of their biweekly “Trolley Times” newspaper with information on speeches, medical aid, and community kitchens. While producing the newspaper has become harder, they are able to print about 5,000 copies for the farmers.

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How two nontraditional newsrooms in Vermont are winning readers

Mark Shanahan

December 28, 2020 |

The Boston Globe |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Burlington, Vermont

VTDigger is an online nonprofit that publishes breaking news, policy reporting, and investigative work. A newsroom with 20 full-time reporters and editors generates about 8-10 stories a day that are relevant to residents' lives. The financially successful model is gaining the attention of those concerned about growing news deserts. VTDigger’s monthly readership expanded from 15,000 in 2010 to about 700,000 in 2020. Their success attracted financial support from foundations, institutions, and business people, including a “growth” fund that allows the outlet to continually invest in staffing and technology.

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In Memphis, a Lab Experiment for Local News

James Fallows

November 08, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Memphis, Tennessee

Over the past dozen years, The Commercial Appeal, once the top morning newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, slowly succumbed to the same ownership changes and downsizing that has plagued numerous other local papers across the country. Hungry for local news after The Commercial Appeal had left a gap, Eric Barnes and Andy Cates created the Daily Memphian. The paper is an online-only, subscription-based service owned by a new 501(c)3 non-profit, Memphis Fourth Estate Inc., which has no editorial control over the paper's content.

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‘We're Doing It for Love of Community'

James Fallows

October 16, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Harvard, Massachusetts

All over the country, budgets for local newspapers are drying up and these small institutions are dying with them. But in Harvard, Massachusetts (which has no connection with the university), one local paper may have found a solution for survival. The Harvard Press operates on a shoestring budget with borrowed and donated equipment and a volunteer labor force. The paper also trains students and young people from the community in order to increase its presence throughout Harvard.

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Spread the word: the Iraqis translating the internet into Arabic

Olivia Cuthbert

October 08, 2019 |

The Guardian |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Iraq, Mosul

Disseminating knowledge means making websites, articles, and books available in more languages beyond English. A partnership between students at the University of Mosul and the nonprofit, Ideas Beyond Borders (IBB), is working to make more content available to Arabic speakers. IBB partners with several universities across Iraq and since launching in 2017 has expanded from translating Wikipedia articles to books and now includes languages such as Farsi and Kurdish.

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There's Hope for Local Journalism

James Fallows

September 18, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Provincetown, Massachusetts

The retention of local ownership provides a more viable business model for small newspapers. In Provincetown, Massachusetts, the Provincetown Independent eschews the profit-maximizing, private-equity business model in favor of a weekly publication that is focused on local issues. The newspaper operates on the basis of a hybrid business model, blending its publication with non-profit activities, such as training new journalists and other projects.

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'Local, Local, Local': How a Small Newspaper Survives

James Fallows

August 30, 2019 |

The Atlantic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eastport, Maine

Getting away from daily publishing helps local newspapers focus on serving their audience. The Quoddy Tides, a family-owned newspaper in Eastport, Maine, publishes only twice monthly. Publishing less frequently allows the newspaper to include more local stories, which are of interest to their community of readers, many of whom either live in, or have ties to the community. By avoiding the 24-hour news cycle, the newspaper can focus on local discourse and civic engagement.

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