# What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate - Hardcover

by **Ellen Clegg** (Author), **Dan Kennedy** (Author)

**A groundbreaking study of the journalism startups that are solving the local news crisis one community at a time**

**A must-read for activists, entrepreneurs, and journalists who want to start local news outlets in their communities**

Local news is essential to democracy. Meaningful participation in civic life is impossible without it. However, local news is in crisis. According to one widely cited study, some 2,500 newspapers have closed over the last generation. And it is often marginalized communities of color who have been left without the day-to-day journalism they need to govern themselves in a democracy.

Veteran journalists Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy cut through the pessimism surrounding this issue, showing readers that new, innovative journalism models are popping up across the country to fill news deserts and empower communities. What Works in Community News examines more than a dozen of these projects, including:

-   _Sahan Journal_, a digital publication dedicated to reporting on Minnesota's immigrant and refugee communities;
-   _MLK50: Justice Through Journalism_, a nonprofit news outlet in Memphis, TN, focused on poverty, power, and public policy;
-   _New Haven Independent_ / WNHH / _La Voz Hispana de Connecticut_, a digital news project that expanded its reach in the New Haven community through radio and a Spanish-language partnership;
-   _Storm Lake Times Pilot_, a print newspaper in rural Iowa innovating with a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit model; and
-   _Texas Tribune_, once a pioneering upstart, now one of the most well-known--and successful--digital newsrooms in the country.

  
Through a blend of on-the-ground reporting and interviews, Clegg and Kennedy show how these operations found seed money and support, and how they hired staff, forged their missions, and navigated challenges from the pandemic to police intimidation to stand as the last bastion of collective truth--and keep local news in local hands.

### Author Biography

**Ellen Clegg** spent more than 3 decades at _The Boston Globe_ and retired in 2018 after 4 years of running the opinion pages. In between stints at the _Globe_, she was deputy director of communications at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is a member of the steering committee for the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship at the International Women's Media Foundation. Ellen is co-founder and co-chair of _Brookline.News_, a nonprofit startup news organization in Brookline, Massachusetts.

**Dan Kennedy** is a professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University and a nationally known media commentator. He was a panelist on the GBH News television program _Beat the Press_ (1998-2021) and also served as a weekly columnist for the network. He was also a columnist for _The Guardian_ from 2007-2011. Dan is a recipient of the Yankee Quill Award from the New England Academy of Journalists and the James W. Carey Journalism Award from the Media Ecology Association.

Follow Ellen and Dan online at whatworks.news and on Twitter at @whatworks\_nu.

**Number of Pages:** 264

**Dimensions:** 1 x 9.2 x 6.1 IN

**Publication Date:** January 09, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 29.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

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- What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate - Hardcover

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