Sustainability: Suddenly the action is local.
Ten years ago, we were searching for examples of local-level sustainability efforts. Now they are everywhere.
Local Journalism
18 posts
Florida Man!
How a regional Florida newspaper informs its citizens and encourages activism.
A Student Newspaper Takes on Community Responsibilities
The Ball State Daily News has filled a local journalism gap.
Why Maps Matter, Starting in Childhood and Even More Now
A "geo-historical narrative" captured the imagination of many children in mid-20th century America. Maps have always had power to shape perceptions of reality. A memoir about their influence--and an introduction of what's to come.
The Rise of the Kingsbury Journal, and the Future of Local Journalism
A local paper with a longer history than its home state suddenly shut its doors, for good, during the pandemic. How an entire community willed a new publication into existence--and avoided becoming one more American "news desert."
The Editor Behind the Story of ‘Own Towns’
Few people outside the publishing world knew of Dan Frank. Many benefitted from his vision, and skill—including anyone visiting this site.
Michael Jones Receives Royal Honors
Awarded the 2020 Patron's Medal for his contribution to the development of geospatial information.
In Defense of The Commercial Appeal
A few days ago I published an item about a new online journalistic site in Tennessee, The Daily Memphian. In that item, I quoted some Daily Memphian officials saying that they had been prompted…
On the Virtues of Statewide Journalism
A few days ago I published an item about a year-old online effort to revive local news coverage in Tennessee, The Daily Memphian. It was part of an ongoing series about efforts to…
The New Approach to Local Journalism
Here’s another installment in the ongoing series on how local news operations, especially newspapers, can devise new ways to stay in business. For previous entries—from Mississippi, from Maine, from Massachusetts, from Southern California and the San…
‘We’re Doing It for Love of Community’
Do local public-radio stations play an important role? In big cities, from Boston and Washington to San Francisco and L.A.? In small towns, like those across Mississippi or Alaska or…
There’s Hope for Local Journalism
Everyone knows that local newspapers are in trouble. That’s why Deb Fallows and I have been chronicling examples of smaller papers that have bucked the economic trend—in Mississippi, in coastal Maine, in rural…
‘Local, Local, Local’: How a Small Newspaper Survives
This is another road report on the state of local journalism, which is more and more important, and more and more imperiled.
It is important because so much of the future of American economic, cultural, and civic life is now being devised and determined at the local or state level.
The American Sense of Place
An update: Reactions from readers and significant local-renewal developments
Report for America Revives Possibilities for Local Journalism
A promising movement, in discouraging times.
The Last Family-Owned Daily in Mississippi
How one local paper survives