Welcome to the Local Fix. Each week we look at key debates in journalism sustainability and community engagement through the lens of local news.  But first, we always begin with one good idea…

One Good Idea: Make a Local/National Connection
This summer the regional Atlanta Journal Constitution made waves with a major national investigation on sexual abuse by doctors. The story had local roots but AJC collected data from across the nation and showed the enormity of the issue. Columbia Journalism Review explores how the journalists at AJC combined shoe leather reporting with advanced machine learning. We are seeing a growing trend around developing creative ways to connect local and national reporting to strengthen both. The Center for Cooperative Media has hired former Texas Tribune publisher Tim Griggs to build partnerships between national newsrooms and local NJ journalists. Similarly, ProPublica is helping local journalists report on the Red Cross and election issues around the country. 

Where Have We Been?

The Local Fix has been on hiatus for the past three months and I’m excited to relaunch it this week. If you are a new subscriber, welcome! The focus of the newsletter is on helping local journalists make sense of their changing industry and connect more deeply with their community. My bias is for practical, useful information, including:

1. Accessible innovation and actionable intelligence you can use
2. Concrete lessons and how to adapt them for your newsroom
3. Honest debate about tough topics facing local journalists

Over the last two years this has become an incredible community and your feedback, tips and advice have shaped this newsletter profoundly. Stay in touch, tell me about what you are trying in your newsroom, send along great links – just hit reply or tweet at me at @jcstearns.

I want to also express my gratitude for my longtime co-author Molly de Aguiar and the teams at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Knight Foundation which helped get the Local Fix off the ground. As of June I joined the Democracy Fund where I will continue to work on some of the most pressing issues facing local news. I’m glad to say I get to keep working with Dodge and Knight, as well as new partners around the country. 

Next week the newsletter will be chock full of links and big ideas for local newsrooms. In the meantime, let me know what topics, issues, ideas and questions you want to see in the Local Fix. 

Have a good weekend,
Josh

The Local Fix is a project of the Democracy Fund’s Public Square Program, which invests in innovations and institutions that are reinventing local media and expanding the public square. Disclosure: Some projects mentioned in this newsletter may be funded by Democracy Fund, you can find a full list of the organizations we support on our website.