The American Journalism Project is building a movement to support mission-based local news organizations with the resources they need to cover their communities. The project is funding new and existing nonprofit newsrooms through grantmaking, providing intensive support to develop their revenue-generating capacity, and cultivating a community of supporters. Together, we can ensure that the thousands of communities that have lost their local newspapers or have no local news source at all have viable alternatives.

Local news remains an important part of a well-informed citizenry. A majority of Americans say their local news outlets do a good or excellent job of keeping them informed, holding leaders accountable and amplifying positive stories in their community. In addition, they find them more reliable than social media, word of mouth and community-based apps. This is especially true among young adults.

Despite this, the number of local news outlets is in decline. This year’s State of Local News report found that 228 of the 1,562 counties served by a single news source are on our Watch List and at heightened risk of losing their newspaper in the next few years. These counties tend to have high poverty rates, are located in rural areas and have significant Black, Hispanic or Native American populations.

Several entrepreneurs are trying to fill the local news gap with for-profit and nonprofit ventures that offer innovative journalistic models. But they face significant challenges that will require a broad coalition of public and private sector stakeholders, including policymakers at the state and national levels, regional and national philanthropic foundations, community organizations and universities.