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

» New TV show highlights local newsrooms

» Punching above your digital weight class

» 11 types of audience relationships

» ASU launches new innovation center

» French publishers redistributing AI revenue to journalists

» Local weather a vital local resource?

📺 New TV show highlights local newsrooms

The Paper, a new mockumentary style spinoff of The Office about reviving a struggling local newspaper, debuted on Peacock last week. The show blends comedy with a surprisingly sharp look at the real challenges facing local journalism. While fictional, the show taps into real industry issues: shrinking staffs, digital disruption, and public trust, making it both entertainment and commentary.

📊 Punching above your digital weight class

MassLive has transformed Springfield’s The Republican into a digital traffic giant, outranking outlets in much larger cities like Dallas and Houston. Its success shows how small market papers can thrive online by scaling local news statewide and pumping out high volume, search friendly content.

📰 11 types of audience relationships

Nieman Lab reports that journalists maintain a spectrum of 11 distinct types of relationships with their audiences from imagining them at a distance, to fostering and engaging with communities, to coping with toxicity and opting out altogether, each one suited to different contexts.

🎓 ASU launches new innovation center

ASU’s Walter Cronkite School has launched the Knight Center for the Future of News backed by a $10.5 million Knight Foundation grant and $4 million from ASU, for rapid innovation via three labs tackling trust, sustainability, and storytelling. It will operate like a teaching hospital: professionals and students co-create and test audience centered, AI powered journalism solutions, then freely share what works.

💸 French publishers redistributing AI revenue to journalists

French journalists are getting a cut of AI licensing revenue thanks to strong legal protections, with some outlets sharing up to 25%. In the US, weaker laws and bargaining power make that tough, but some unions are fighting for a similar deal.

🌧️ Local weather a vital local resource?

Poynter argues that local newsrooms need a dedicated weather beat that connects daily forecasts to real world implications like infrastructure, insurance, and local accountability, especially ahead of disasters. These specialists help translate science into civic action, making weather coverage more than forecasts, it becomes a vital public service

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Small Press, Big Ideas

A podcast about the business of local news

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS

Inside the mission driven news revolution

This week I was joined on the podcast by Matthew Watkins, Editor-In-Chief of The Texas Tribune, for a wide ranging conversation on nonprofit journalism, civic engagement, and navigating polarization in today’s media environment.

Matthew shares his journey from local Texas reporting to leading one of the nation's premier nonprofit newsrooms, and offers candid insights into what makes The Tribune unique, from its funding model and newsroom culture to its commitment to transparency and nonpartisanship.

We also explore the role of community engagement through initiatives like T-Squared, how AI is being thoughtfully integrated into The Tribune’s journalism workflows, and the importance of building trust with audiences by spotlighting the humans behind the headlines.

You can listen to our conversation now on your podcast app of choice. 🍎 Apple Podcasts | 🎵 Spotify | 📺 YouTube

Local Stories

⏩ Initiative aims to preserve North Dakota newspapers

⏩ The couple rescuing 8 Wyoming newspapers say it’s time to return to hyper-local news

⏩ Knight Foundation Appoints Amalie Nash as Vice President of Journalism

⏩ Why two news outlets are coming together to serve you

⏩ Contra Costa Youth Journalism garners award as program trains local student reporters

⏩ A (Cringing) Plea for Your Support of Free, Independent, Local Journalism

⏩ The biggest antitrust case against Big Tech in decades turned out to be kind of a flop

⏩ Local TV Strategies: Programming And Audience At A Crossroads

⏩ Look for the helpers