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: Do a Security Check
What are you doing this weekend? How about activating two-factor authentication and setting up encrypted email? Sounds fun huh? (Actually it can be!) Try a 30 minute security check up with the tips from this introduction to digital security overview from MozFest (ht Melody Kramer) or this list of digital security resources. And while you are at it, check out how newsrooms are creating safe ways for sources to leak documents. 

Write Better Newsletters

As use of newsletters to reach audiences continues to grow, questions of quality, need, and tech are sprouting up at organizations big and small. There are more email newsletters to compete with than ever, so take some time to ask yourself some key questions before starting one, found in the resources below.

• Publishers confront email newsletter design challenges – Digiday 
• Why send a newsletter at all? – Reynolds Journalism Institute  
• What Makes A Curated Newsletter Great? – Mediashift 
• Publishers love newsletters, but grapple with the underlying tech – Digiday  
   

Experiments with Facebook Live, Groups, and Posts

Local communities are gathering on Facebook, connecting with each other, sharing advice and coordinating local events and activities. For many local newsrooms Facebook is becoming more than just a distribution platform as they experiment with how to foster engagement and serve the public. There are big debates about the role and responsibility of Facebook, but for those who want to leverage Facebook’s strengths there are lessons to be learned from looking across the media spectrum from public media to daily newspapers to conservative media start-ups. 

• Connecticut public radio show uses Facebook live to stream ASL translation of radio show – CPBN
• With its subscribers Facebook group, The Boston Globe is mining the stickiest corners of the platform – Nieman Journalism Lab 
• 7 Tips for Publishers Going Live on Facebook – Mediashift 
• 5 things social media editors should do when programming Facebook – NPR Curious 
• How Facebook Live became the perfect incubator for conservative news in the Trump age. – Backchannel 
   

Learning Lessons from Philanthropy

In their new “guidance on philanthropic funding of media and news” a working group coordinated by the American Press Institute leads with transparency. They write: “Funders should be transparent about the media they are funding, and they should expect media partners to report their sources of funding. Funders should articulate their motivations for funding journalism and explain what would constitute success in meeting their purposes.” In a series of new reports Knight Foundation shares lessons from some of its recent grants and looks ahead to what the future might hold.    

• From Airwaves to Earbuds: Lessons from Knight Investments in Digital Audio and Podcasting – Knight Foundation, Lutman & Associates and Dot Connector Studio 
• Imagining the Future(s) – Knight Foundation 
• Chat the Vote: How Snapchat, Amazon and Facebook Messenger Reimagined Civic Engagement in the 2016 Election –  Knight Foundation and Eytan Oren (who also co-authored this guide to chat apps for news organizations)   

Have a good weekend
Josh and Teresa
@jcstearns, @gteresa

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.