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

» What happens to shuttered newspapers’ archives?

» New fellowship to provide journalism training to influencers

» AI marketplaces: friend or foe to local media companies?

» Patrons aren’t the future for journalism

» AI won’t replace you, but it will change your job

» New program for local news funders

📁 What happens to shuttered newspapers’ archives?

Columbia Journalism Review argues that local newspaper archives, especially photograph collections, are under serious threat from disasters, closures, and neglect, which means vital pieces of community history may be lost forever. The piece highlights the need for proactive digitization and partnerships (e.g., with universities and libraries) so these archives are preserved and remain accessible for future generations.

📱 New fellowship to provide journalism training to influencers

A new initiative called The News Creator Corps (NCC) launched in September and has announced a “Trusted Creators” fellowship that will pay 20 social media influencers to spend nine weeks learning journalistic tools like interviewing and public records, then apply these skills in their content to help “flood social platforms with accurate information.” Read more

🤖 AI marketplaces: friend or foe to local media companies?

Publishers are facing shrinking ad revenue as AI tools deliver direct answers to users instead of driving traffic to their sites. AI marketplaces: platforms where publishers license their content to AI systems, may offer a promising new revenue stream, but they are still in early stages and not yet a full substitute for traditional models. E&P explores the topic in depth

😕 Patrons aren’t the future for journalism

This piece argues that relying on patron supported journalism (via subscriptions, memberships, or direct audience funding) is not a sustainable future model, because creators still face the same market vulnerabilities as large media outlets and often without the infrastructure and protections of a full news organization.

⚙️ AI won’t replace you, but it will change your job

This article argues that while AI may not fully replace journalists, it will reshape what work looks like by shifting the emphasis toward human judgment and oversight. It suggests that value lies increasingly in uniquely human skills like decision making and ethics, not just in producing content or tasks that AI can already handle.

📢 New program for local news funders

The Poynter Institute and Press Forward (via the Appalachia Funders Network) have launched a new program aimed at local news funders in the Central Appalachian region to strengthen news ecosystems in rural communities. The initiative will provide peer learning, cohort support, and investment coordination for funders who want to back journalism that serves under resourced areas.

Small Press, Big Ideas

A podcast about the business of local news

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A shot at fixing fragmented communities

This week on the podcast I sat down with Mike Gyi, an entrepreneur out of the UK building hyperlocal events platform TownSpot.

Mike has an architectural background and started the project out of a passion for social impact and uncovering hidden gems in your own backyard.

TownSpot is essentially a sleek digital calendar with the aim of rewiring how people engage with their communities. Mike has kept the design of the platform simple on purpose. He calls it “ low cognitive overload”: no photos or videos, just a simple headline with an emoji for each event.

In our conversation we talk about Mike’s origin story from studying architecture to designing digital spaces, how he and his local admins source the events for the platform, how he’s monetizing it, why Y Combinator calls this problem a “tar pit”, and his future vision for the platform.

Listen to the full episode wherever podcasts are found today!

More Stories

⏩ The Salt Lake Tribune, preparing to drop its paywall, launches a free, monthly print newspaper for Southern Utah

⏩ American Journalism Project invests $3.5 million in the growth of three local news organizations

⏩ 3 suburban Detroit newspapers to stop publishing at the end of October

⏩ Pink Slime and the Phantom Newsroom: When Bots Like ‘San Diego City Wire’ Pretend to Be Your Friend and Neighbor

⏩ E.W. Scripps to Sell Indianapolis ABC Affiliate WRTV to Circle City Broadcasting for $83 Million

⏩ Is citizen journalism a threat or a complement to traditional reporting?

⏩ In Medill’s Latest State Of Local News Report, A ‘Festering, 20-Year-Old Problem’ Looms Larger Than Ever

⏩ Q&A: A new journalism exec at America’s biggest news supporter

⏩ National Federation of Community Broadcasters lands $1.25M MacArthur grant

⏩ Rebuilding the research desk in local newsrooms

⏩ How to Solve AI’s Community News Problem