Hello! Here’s what’s in this week’s issue:

» A new tool to help newsrooms find resources

» Lessons from AI? It’s humans all the way down

» NYT in the South

» Turning community support into local journalism funding

» LION report on local news sustainability

» Local news bright spots

🔍 A new tool to help newsrooms find resources

Press Forward has announced the launch of a new tool to help local newsrooms quickly locate resources they need from over 300 organizations. The Journalism Support Exchange acts like a matchmaking service, simplifying access to funding, training, legal help, and more.

🤖 Lessons from AI? It’s humans all the way down

This piece proposes five core principles for using AI in journalism, urging creators to stay human centered and use the tech to deepen, not replace, authentic storytelling. The guide stresses transparency, community service, and resisting the temptation to over-automate.

📰 NYT in the South

Poynter reports on why the New York Times is launching a dedicated reporting center in the U.S. South in 2026 to fill coverage gaps and deepen its regional engagement. The move follows a three year initiative that revealed strong local interest and underreported stories deserving national attention.

💰 Turning community support into local journalism funding

Editor & Publisher reports on how The Post and Courier is turning community generosity into newsroom funding through donor programs, events, and transparency about how money supports reporting. Its efforts have raised millions to expand investigative projects and strengthen local coverage across South Carolina.

🦁 LION report on local news sustainability

LION Publishers has released a report from it’s 2025 sustainability audits. It shows that local news outlets participating in its audit program saw major gains in revenue and operational health. The study highlights how structured coaching and business discipline can significantly boost financial stability for independent publishers. Read more

🔦 Local news bright spots

The Local News Initiative released its 2025 Local News Bright Spots highlighting local news outlets to coincide with the annual State of Local News. Among this year’s stories: From Portland cycling blog to local news site, Green shoots of growth in Red Bank, and Securing the future of local news across S.C.

Small Press, Big Ideas

A podcast about the business of local media

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS

Can Events Power Local Media?

Justin Gordon’s business is new. Like, very new.

Scroll to the first post of The LA Grind and you’ll see: the first post was put out on May 19th, 2025.

Despite launching less than six months ago, Justin’s business has grown to a six figure run rate with an audience of just over 6,000. He’s done this with an interesting model of creating an events business on the back of a local newsletter.

This week on the podcast I spoke with Justin about how his background in venture capital, newsletters, and podcasting led him to launch a media meets events company for LA’s entrepreneurial community.

Although Justin isn’t quite in the mold of local news like most guests on the podcast, publishers of all shapes and sizes should be able to get some value from Justin’s story. We talked about events strategy, monetization, audience growth tactics, and a lot more.

Listen today on your podcast app of choice!

More Stories

⏩ Transforming the model for media revenue

⏩ New Brookings paper seeks to add to local journalism ecosystem

⏩ LMA promotes Julia Campbell to co-CEO as next step in long-term succession plan

⏩ As independent newspapers disappear, a secretive alliance fights to save them

⏩ LG’s Keith Norman On How Local TV Can Still Matter In An Audience-First World

⏩ Nonprofit aims to fix news deserts in Western and Downeast Maine with hyperlocal reporting

⏩ Beat the newsies at trivia while supporting local journalism in Sacramento on Nov. 13

⏩ Shaw Media sells Newton News to J. Louie Mullen of Eastern Iowa Publications

⏩ Tucson Spotlight kicks off campaign to support emerging journalists

⏩ Audiences doubt the benefits of AI-generated imagery in news are worth the risks, new study finds