"If you're running a small local news outlet right now, it can feel like help is everywhere - and nowhere at once. Over the past decade, the network of organizations designed to support local journalism has exploded. Funders have mobilized. Intermediaries have emerged to train, mentor and regrant. Consultants now specialize in everything from audience development to business modeling. This growth signals progress."
"The irony is painful: Even as the field of "journalism support organizations" grows more sophisticated, many of the outlets it serves are barely surviving. In theory, the system should work: Funders supply resources; intermediaries channel them efficiently; publishers gain training, networks and financial resilience. In practice, the incentives and structures often fail to reach the people doing the hardest, most essential work."
"An Indigenous publisher who spent years in mentorship and capacity-building programs told me she had to put her newsroom on hiatus after taking a full-time job to pay bills and care for her children. A Black publisher - an active participant in multiple revenue labs and funder-sponsored audits - went on food stamps last week. Burnout, exhaustion and financial strain have made the work unsustainable."
A large network of funders, intermediaries and consultants has emerged to support local journalism, offering training, mentoring and regranting. Many small and startup outlets, especially those serving communities of color, immigrants and rural regions, remain financially unstable despite program participation. Publishers experience burnout, unpaid labor and economic precarity, with some putting newsrooms on hiatus, relying on food stamps, or leaving for higher-paying jobs. Support organizations often teach sustainability without directly funding salaries or operational stability. Existing incentives and structures frequently fail to deliver sufficient resources to the people doing essential reporting.
Read at Poynter
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