February 2023
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The combination of two storied Chicago news brands has created one of the country's largest local nonprofit news organizations. Chicago Public Media, which owns WBEZ, the local NPR affiliate, announced Jan. 31, 2022 it completed a deal to buy the Chicago Sun-Times (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)


** From the senior editor
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“It’s all hands on deck here, and every kind of tool is necessary.”

That quote comes courtesy of Martha Minow, a legal scholar at Harvard who recently published a book arguing that the government has a role to play in saving news outlets — especially local ones that have yet to find a viable business model. Minow was interviewed for our recent story about how state legislators are using public funds to invest in local news ([link removed]) . In California, for example, $25 million was set aside to establish a fellowship program to place reporters in underserved community newsrooms for up to three years.

The California program, along with others in New Jersey and New Mexico, to name just a few, are a welcome development. In the past two decades, more than 2,500 news organizations have closed. It's clear that a wide range of solutions — all hands on deck — are needed to both stem the tide and "replant" newsrooms in regions that have become news deserts. In another encouraging sign, major philanthropic funders are thinking more aggressively about how they can help bolster areas struggling to build and maintain community news organizations. In January, a group with representatives from the Lenfest Institute, Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Emerson Collective, among others, got together in Rancho Mirage, California, to discuss "local funding collaborations at much grander national scale ([link removed]) ."

Days after the summit, organizers released "The Roadmap for Local News," a 27-page document that called for coordinating philanthropic donations to expand access to "civic information," investing in shared services or infrastructure for community organizations and cultivating public policies that support these ventures. The roadmap sparked a vigorous debate, with some arguing that it left out "HBCU graduates, those with GEDs, folks from rural communities ([link removed]) " and was too narrow in its approach ([link removed]) . Others noted that nonprofit startups will not by themselves solve the crisis ([link removed]) .

Wherever you land in this debate, the fact that this discussion is intensifying and state lawmakers are pushing through at least some policy prescriptions — however meager at this point — is a good sign. For the first time in a long time, I have felt an unfamiliar feeling about the state of the news industry bubble up: hope.

February also marks the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine ([link removed]) . Thousands of civilians have been killed. Many more have been injured. Millions have fled. As we reflect on the devastation Russia’s aggression has wrought, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the suffering and the vital, courageous work of the journalists covering the war.


Until next time,


Laura Colarusso

Senior Editor

Nieman Reports
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** Correcting The New York Times on Trans Issues ([link removed])
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More than 1,000 Times contributors have sent an open letter asking for the paper of record to examine its biases in reporting on trans issues. The paper's response is part of the problem

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** Facing Hunger — and Death — In Somalia ([link removed])
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A combination of drought, armed conflict, and ineffective government is making life a type of torture for the most vulnerable

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** Press Freedom Community: Prioritize the Defense of Journalism that Serves the Public Interest ([link removed])
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To produce positive social outcomes, press freedom advocacy must shape the global information space to promote accountability and democratic debate

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** More from Nieman Foundation publications:
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Ukraine coverage: The press rises to cover a grinding war ([link removed])

One year into Russian President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, journalists deliver a range of stories that reach past compassion fatigue with the best of craft

Read more from Nieman Storyboard ([link removed]) . ([link removed])

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The Trace puts a local lens on gun violence coverage with new bureaus in Chicago and Philadelphia ([link removed])

Staff at the nonprofit newsroom said news-gathering will look different in the local bureaus — “more democratic” and “community-driven.”

Read more from Nieman Lab ([link removed]) .
Read more from Nieman Reports ([link removed])
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