Many posts have described the decline of local news. Howard Husock at City Journal:
The recent emergence of nonprofit local news holds promise for at least arresting the negative trend. Reliant on philanthropy and reader support, these digital enterprises avoid the legacy costs of printing and home delivery and the pension overhang from unionized workforces. Since 2018, according to the Medill School, 118 news enterprises have been set up, many of them nonprofits—from Cal Matters to the Texas Tribune to VTDigger (Vermont). The Institute for Nonprofit News, a trade organization, now boasts 425 members, all nonprofit “papers” that don’t erect paywalls.
Doubtless some of these sites can provide enterprising, traditional reporting on school board meetings, local politics, and crime. But is the rise of nonprofit local news a Trojan horse? Major national foundations have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into the new generation of local journalism, but the money comes with progressive strings attached. A better approach uses local philanthropy and know-how to offer trustworthy coverage not driven by fashionable political trends.