Local News Organization

# Start a local news organization.

The digital economy has led to a steep decline in small local newspapers, depriving people of solid reporting about their own communities. Set up a local news organization to help fill the gap.

# Take action

* Start a nonprofit news organization, whether online, print, or podcast, with The Institute for Nonprofit News' guide Starting a Nonprofit News Organization (US).

* Learn to disseminate local news effectively online with the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy's Playbook for Launching a Local, Nonprofit News Outlet (US).

* Create a hyperlocal publication with help from the UK charity Nesta's toolkit, the Survivors Guide to Hyperlocal Media. It is based on the lessons learned by the editors of the hyperlocal newspaper Kentishtowner (UK).

# Get inspired

* Cape Town Community Television in South Africa proves that local media can strengthen community while connecting people to the broader world. The station covers hard news from the Capetown region, gives marginalized communities a voice, airs programs for and by young people, and screens documentary films from around the world. The station reaches 2.7 million people each month.

* After the 2008 financial collapse, most newspapers across the United States were cutting reporting staff to the bone. But the news site VTDigger, launched in 2009, bucked those trends by focusing entirely on issues and events of importance to the state of Vermont. Over the years it has earned a reputation for solid reporting, and is thriving: in a state with a population of just 625,000, the daily online news source has 300,000 monthly users. ‍