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: Try Civility
Reporting on new research at the American Press Institute Jane Elizabeth writes, “Contentious stories and clickbait headlines are more than just annoying. They’re a barrier to a civil discussion of facts, they tend to increase partisanship, and they can impact the level of trust in media and other institutions. But are “civil” stories that focus on solutions interesting enough to attract readers?” For the answer, check out University of Kansas professor Ashley Muddiman’s research on civility and engagement. 

A Big Facebook News Week

Facebook is making big changes to how the News Feed works to prioritize posts from friends and family over publishers and brands. At the same time Facebook is testing a new section dedicated to helping people find local news. Bridging these two announcements is the growing popularity of Facebook groups which emphasize conversation and community building over Facebook pages which tend to be built for distribution. There is a lot to unpack in each of these shifts, but one thing is clear: It’s never been more important to be building deep and powerful relationships with your community online and offline. There will be a lot of focus on the platform over the next few weeks, but we’d argue that publishers need to focus the people – the people who read your work, rely on your work, share your work and sustain your work. 

• Facebook is testing a new section of the app specifically for local news and events – Recode 
• Facebook is emphasizing Groups, and publishers are following suit – DigiDay 
• Facebook overhauls News Feed to focus on what friends and family share – New York Times 
• How to prepare for the removal of publisher posts from Facebook’s news feed – Simon Galperin
   

Low Power to the People

The New York Times published a story about low-power FM and community radio stations this week that helps capture the local, community, and yes, sometimes weird, qualities that these small shops have. We here at the Local Fix have worked with community radio stations for years and thought this was a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on a unique local resource and potential collaborator. Here are some links that showcase how important it can be for communities to share their own stories, and have the power and ownership to do so. Get inspired, find some tips, and know that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also give a thumbs up to community radio. (If you like what you see you might want to sign up to get updates and resources from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters.) 

• As Low-Power Local Radio Rises, Tiny Voices Become a Collective Shout – New York Times 
• How KUVO Founder Florence Hernandez-Ramos started a bilingual service by and for Hispanics in Colorado – Colorado Public Radio 
• Low power, high hopes: KRSM brings community radio to south Minneapolis – City Pages 
• In New Haven, a digital online newsroom launches a low-power FM experiment to spur local conversation — and financial sustainability – NiemanLab 
• Popular education tools to build participatory radio – Prometheus Radio Project 

All the Things to Apply For

Occasionally, we like to compile some of the opportunities for funding, conference pitches, training, and jobs that come into our inboxes for you, dear Local Fix readers. Want to try something new, get funding for a big idea, or up your mentoring game? Those are just a few of the opportunities out there with deadlines coming up in the next few weeks. Take a look, and shoot your shot.  

Four Projects:

• Apply for Local Independent Online News Publishers’ Revenue from Advertising Mentorship Program, Deadline January 26 
• Submit ideas for the Collaborative Journalism Summit which will be held May 10-11 at Montclair State University.  
• Join the ONA Journalism Mentorship Collaborative. Funding applications due Feb. 2 
• Pitch your idea to “shift the story” through New Media Ventures Fund Innovation Fund, Due Feb. 2 

Four Places:

• In North Carolina? Apply for a a non-profit internship supported by Democracy Fund and other foundations by Feb. 12 
• In DC? Be WAMU’s new Fellowship Manager  
• Want to go to Alaska? Cover the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta with Alaska Energy Desk 
• Want to go to Boston? Spend the summer working with Nieman Lab via the Google News Lab Fellowship, Due January 15  

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.