📉 California walks back local journalism funding

Plus: Lessons from the niche frontier + Print, pixels and the AI pivot

Author

Paul Gewuerz
January 22, 2026

Your weekly briefing of stories from around the local news space about business, policy, trends, and more

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

» California walks back local journalism funding

» News media increasingly partnering with creators

» McClatchy sues Google

» Pittsburgh’s fragmented news landscape

🎧 Small Press, Big Ideas Podcast:

→ Lessons from the niche frontier

→ Print, pixels and the AI pivot

📉 California walks back local journalism funding

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget proposal drops all future state funding for local journalism, effectively walking back its high profile $175 million deal with Google that was meant to support struggling California newsrooms. Advocates say the move casts serious doubt on whether the funding pact, already reduced and not yet fully distributed, will ever deliver meaningful help to local media.

đź“° News media increasingly partnering with creators

E&P reports on how news publishers are increasingly partnering with social media creators and influencers to reach wider digital audiences and offset plunging web traffic caused by AI driven search and changing consumption habits. These collaborations aim to blend traditional journalism’s credibility with creators’ established followings and engaging formats, helping newsrooms stay relevant and competitive in today’s evolving media landscape.

⚖️ McClatchy sues Google

McClatchy Media Company has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of illegally monopolizing the online advertising market and harming news publishers by undercutting their ad revenue. The complaint claims Google’s dominance in digital ads squeezes media companies’ ability to compete and threatens the financial stability of local journalism.

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🗞️ Pittsburgh’s fragmented news landscape

With the long running Pittsburgh Post‑Gazette poised to close, Pittsburgh’s media landscape remains fragmented but still supported by more than 40 local outlets offering niche and hyperlocal coverage to fill information gaps. Pittsburgh’s Public Source put out a list of local journalism outlets in southwestern Pennsylvania for audiences impacted by the closure.

Small Press, Big Ideas

A podcast about the business of local news

đź“ť Lessons from the niche frontier

First up on the Small Press, Big Ideas podcast this week I was joined by Alisa Cromer, publisher of NichePublisher.biz.

Alisa shares her story from growing and selling alt weeklies in the 90’s to a founding peer driven resource hub and membership platform for niche and local media publishers.

We dig into why newsletters are local media’s most untapped asset, how events can become your biggest moneymaker, and lessons from niche publishers that local media can take away.

Watch or listen: Apple | Spotify | YouTube

Next up I interviewed Benjamin Jacobs, Editor and Associate Publisher at BridgeTower Media.

Ben shares his 25 year journey in local news, from high school sports reporting to overseeing multiple B2B publications across the East Coast.

We talked about the evolution of local business journalism, the unique challenges of leadership in media, and how AI is reshaping news operations.

Watch or listen: Apple | Spotify | YouTube

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