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On Tuesday morning, Oregon publisher Les Zaitz tweeted ([link removed]) some news: “Own a local newspaper and website in Oregon and make a journalistic difference. The Malheur Enterprise could be yours. Read on ([link removed]) .”

REPUTABLE OREGON NEWS OPERATION FOR SALE, the document he included read.

“A rural news operation in Oregon is for sale – and it will be a good deal for the right person. Here’s why. The Malheur Enterprise, based in Vale, is a family-owned operation that has built a state and national reputation after being rescued from near-failure in 2015. Today, the Enterprise publishes a weekly newspaper, operates a robust digital subscription service, and produces high-quality specialty publications. This is the right journalistic enterprise and business for someone looking to escape big-city life and corporate machinations and put skills and ideas to work for a community that appreciates quality local news.”

Owners Zaitz and Scotta Callister have spent the last seven years offering people in Vale coverage as they worked to build digital audiences and partnerships, including with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. My colleague, Angela Fu, wrote about the sale and the approach ([link removed]) the owners are taking, which feels like maybe the most journalistic way to do things — you gotta write an essay first.

In 2016, I wrote about a similar attempt ([link removed]) the previous owner of The Hardwick (Vermont) Gazette took. It didn’t quite work ([link removed]) , but the weekly did get a new owner and, when I poked around its site last week, I was thrilled to see an actual website ([link removed]) , where previously there was more of a digital storefront.

We’ve seen a movement in the last few years toward keeping locally owned newsrooms alive through continued local ownership. The NewStart program ([link removed]) at West Virginia University is a leader in this. In 2019, I wrote about the fellowship and a young journalist who bought a weekly in Nebraska ([link removed]) .

I’m excited to see what’s next for the Enterprise and hope it gets the owner it deserves.

“This is a really interesting time for local news,” Zaitz told Fu. “(There are) all these initiatives for funding, for collaboration, for solutions journalism, for community engagement that I think hold a lot of promise for local news. This is really a great time to hand this over to someone to take it to the next stage, taking advantage of all those developments.”

Here are some of the opportunities, lessons and news I’ve been collecting.

Apply:
* The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing has five fellowships and three awards ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
* From the Solutions Journalism Network and Hearken, “Democracy SOS is a fellowship ([link removed]) designed to help newsrooms think big, plan long-term, and reinvent politics, governance and elections coverage with and for their communities.” Participating newsrooms will get $5,000 stipends and $50,000 of coaching and training. The deadline to apply is Feb. 7.
* Apply to Military Veterans in Journalism’s 2022 Speakers Bureau ([link removed]) . Those chosen will get a $3,000 stipend. The deadline to apply is Feb. 14.
* The Solutions Journalism Network has created the Health Equity Initiative ([link removed]) , which “will support five newsrooms in reimagining the way we cover health issues.” Selected newsrooms will get $20,000. The deadline is Feb. 11. Apply here ([link removed]) .
* You can apply now ([link removed]) for Poynter’s Building an Ethical Newsroom live online seminar. It takes place in six sessions across three weeks.
* Apply for the Maynard 200 Fellowship, which will include 50 fellows this year. Apply by March 7 ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
* And the Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship is accepting applications for our next class. I’m the lead faculty on this program and so excited about the early-career local journalists and pros I get to work with. Applications are due Feb. 25 ([link removed]) . ([link removed])

Learn:
* Learn about News Deserts, Journalism Schools, and Generation Z: How U.S. student journalists are tackling the local news crisis ([link removed]-) at this webinar at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, Feb. 4.
* Sign up for Creators Workshops 2022 ([link removed]) from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
* From Local News Lab, meet the ecosystem builders ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
* Northwestern’s Local News Initiative covered how going nonprofit put The Salt Lake Tribune on the path to sustainability ([link removed]) .
* Hey, reporters in Illinois, apply for this Education Writers Association workshop on covering COVID-19 relief for schools ([link removed]) .
* Jan Winburn wrote an editor’s sensitive guide to interviewing victims of trauma for Nieman Storyboard ([link removed]) .
* Check out Pigeon 605 ([link removed]) , which is “delivering personalized local news to residents in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.”
* Learn how the Keene Sentinel reduced digital subscriber churn ([link removed]) .
* The Bay Area News Collective includes seven partner newsrooms. Learn more about the work here ([link removed]) .

Growth:
* CBS stations are creating a local news innovation lab ([link removed]) .
* Trusting News is getting funding ([link removed]) from New Pluralists to support their pluralism work.
* Hey look, it's a new newsroom! Welcome to the world, Cascadia Daily News ([link removed]) .
* Colorado Media Project announced more than $900,000 in new grants ([link removed]) .
* Check out LION Publishers’ 2022 goals ([link removed]) .
* Doom and gloom? More like doom or boom. I was one of many people asked by Politico to predict where the media will be in 15 years ([link removed]) . ([link removed])

That’s it for me. I spent last week unsure what day it was (and what decade, it was a pleasure to write an obit for one of the Dixie Cups ([link removed]) , I listened to a lot of “Iko Iko”.) Here's hoping for a month that’s less pandemic-y.
Kristen Hare
Faculty
The Poynter Institute
@kristenhare ([link removed])

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