Michele's List
Building blocks in the emerging local news ecosystem

The Akronist seeks to capture compelling multimedia stories of everyday people in the community. The website is an extension of the Akron Digital Media Center, a partnership between Akron Community Foundation and the Akron-Summit County Public Library. The project trains citizens to create multimedia stories using small cameras and mobile devices, whose content is uploaded to social media and the Akronist website. Revenue: Grants, sponsorships.

Alhambra Source is a nonprofit organization that serves a city of about 85,000, predominantly Asian and Hispanic immigrants, in California's San Gabriel Valley. Launched in 2010 by the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, the organization in 2017 began a two-year transition toward becoming an indepenent outlet. The site relies on community contributors working with a professional journalist. The site seeks to serve "as a forum for local voices, and a platform for the expression and development of writers, videographers, and photographers." Bonus points: Content in Spanish and Mandarin as well as English.

bctv.org is a nonprofit corporation committed to providing live programming on cable TV and online, produced and hosted by people in the Berks County community. 
Community members are welcome to submit stories, photos and video about issues, events and activities in Berks County as well as comments, opinions, and reviews. 

Benito Link is a community-driven, non-profit local news site serving rural Benito County, which borders Santa Clara County, California. The nonprofit site seeks donations and sponsorships among other funding sources. Its mission is to inform all residents in decisions and engage them in order to improve our community's "quality of life."

Church Hill People's News is an all-volunteer site that covers the East End of  of Richmond, Va. With more than 100,000 pageviews per month and a real-world impact, CHPN has become a community resource for sharing information and helping connect communities in a diverse and changing area of the city.

City Bureau, launched in 2015, is a local news outlet based in Chicago's South Side that enlists and trains citizens to share accounts of public meetings and collaborate with journalists to cover their communities. Revenue: Grants, donations.

Civil Beat is the largest news outlet dedicated to public affairs reporting about Hawaii. It focuses on investigative and watchdog journalism, in-depth enterprise reporting, analysis and commentary that gives readers a broad view on important issues and challenges leaders to do better. Civil Beat also works to foster community discussion by providing a place where citizens can debate important issues in a civil manner. Revenue: Metered paywall with monthly subscriptions.

Columbus Underground features events, entertainment, business and government coverage in Ohio's largest city. It also maintains active discussion boards. Revenue: Advertising.

ecoRI covers environmental and social justice in southern New England. Launched in 2009, the nonprofit news outlet is based in Providence, RI. Revenue: Foundation grants, donations.

Foothills Forum produces in-depth reports on local issues in Virginia's Rappahannock County. The nonprofit site launched in 2014. Revenue: Donations.

Front Porch Forum's mission is to help neighbors connect and build community.  We do that by hosting regional networks of online neighborhood forums.

FPF currently serves every community in the state of Vermont and and dozens of surrounding locales.  More than two out of three households in Vermont participate in their local FPF.

A parenting-focused site for Grand Rapids, Mich. Has evergreen guides, event listings, and up-to-date reportage.

Community news, events, food, drink, and a community directory. Jennifer Galatioto is the owner. Revenue: organizational support, advertising.

This publication started online, but now produces a print monthly. It covers local news. Eric Crump, Marilyn Thomas, and Tom Houlihan are editors. Revenue: advertising.

Local reporting, including hard news and features. Many, many links to community resources. Revenue: advertising.

iNFOnews covers several communities in Canada, reporting on arts and entertainment, politics, and a bunch of other local essentials. They also provide easy access to community info by embedding their parent company's searchable business database and directory right on their site. CEO is Bonnie Derry. Revenue: advertising and print publications (community directories, specifically.)

La Familia de Broward covers news and events in Broward and Dade counties in Southern Florida. Revenue: Advertising.

Latinos en Michigan TV covers politics, art, health and legal affairs of interest or importance to Latinos in the state of Michigan, offering text and video content. It was founded in 2016 by Lillian Ospina, a Columbian immigrant, and her husband, John R. Herbstreit. Revenue: Advertising.

LkldNow is a community news site in Lakeland, Florida. The site, which covers local news and events, was launched by Barry Friedman, who previously was managing editor/digital at the local daily newspaper. LkldNow is a nonoprofit. Revenue: Reader donations and business sponsorships.

Covering music and the music community in West Michigan, Local Spins hosts events and produces podcasts and radio content. Editor and publisher is John Sinkevics. Revenue Advertising, freelance, events, merchandise

Local news about Long Beach, with specific editorial sections for immigration and LGBTQ coverage. Has some subverticals and maintains a reading list, event listings and guides. Revenue: advertising, donations. 

Madison365 is a nonprofit news organization that seeks to produce journalism that starts conversations and encourages emerging leaders in Madison's communities of color. Launched in 2017, the site won LION Publishers 2019 Publisher of the Year and Best Breaking News awards. Revenue: Grants, donations.

Coverage includes environmental news, business, University of Montana and arts and entertainment. Also has editorials. Martin Kidston is the founding editor. Revenue: donations and advertising.

MLK50 focuses on poverty, power and public policy in Memphis. Launched in 2017 by journalist and columnist Wendy C. Thomas, MLK50 is fiscally sponsored by CommunityLift, a local nonprofit organization. Revenue: Donations.

News on local happenings, neighborhoods, social justice, parenting and other topics. Produces several evergreen guides. Tracy Certo is the publisher and founder. Revenue: advertising, donations.

NJ Pen is a local, online news site covering the issues, events, and people of suburban Camden County, New Jersey,  Editor and founder is Matt Skoufalos. Revenue: display and e-mail advertising, subscriber contributions, section sponsorships.

 NOWCastSA is a nonprofit community news organization that was created to address the scarcity of meaningful local news and information in the San Antonio Metropolitan Area, to democratize local data and to get people engaged in their community. Its mission is to promote and facilitate an inclusive civic conversation by empowering neighbors to identify common issues and share information through education, training, community news, events and multimedia.

Richmond Pulse is a nonprofit news site with a monthly print publication whose content is developed by young people. Richmond Pulse aims to offer a counter-point to negative perceptions of Richmond and amplify voices of underserved residents. Revenue: 10-year grant from the California Endowment.

Silver Lake Star is a community website and portal for residents in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eddie North-Hager and Betsy McClellan Hall in 2012 and seeks reader posts. They also started Echo Park Online. Revenue: Advertising, real estate listings.

A news site focused on Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Offers community reporting, including local features, news hits, obituaries, job listing and events. Has a newsletter. Gary Collins is the COO. Revenue: advertising, including sponsored content. 

The Swellesley Report offers local reporting on local business, philanthropy and travel destinations. Produces a daily newsletter. Authors are Bob and Deborah Brown. Revenue: advertising and donations.

The Bedford Citizen is a nonprofit community-driven website founded in 2012 in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Offers news and opinion on local issues. Also has some unique features like a lost and found registry, a listing of local simchas, and a ride share program. Produces regular audio. Revenue: Advertising.

The Philbrick-James Forum is a volunteer-staffed, nonprofit news site that covers several New Hampshire small towns. Topics: Local news, arts and entertainment, sports, lifestyle. Revenue: Advertising, donations. 

The Rapidian is neighborhood citizen news site in Grand Rapids, Mich., operated by the Grand Rapids Community Media Center. Revenue: Grants, advertising. Bonus points: Active use of social media, mapping local events and news.

The Seattle Globalist is a nonprofit news organization that covers connections betweeen global and local issues in Seattle. The site seeks to highlight diverse voices and has an apprenticeship program to help train a new generation of media makers. Revenue: Advertising/sponsorship, donations

The Tyler Loop is a local, nonprofit news outlet in Tyler, a growing city in East Texas. Coverage includes innovative storytelling about members of the community. Revenue: Membership, donations.

This Is Reno is a local news site in Nevada that is mostly operated by volunteers. It has been around since 2009. Topics include events, crime, government, and business. Revenue: Advertising

Tipp news uses citizens' written and video reports to deliver news to residents of Tipp City. The site relies heavily on submissions by residents as well as syndication news sources.

Toms River Shorebeat is one of three sites operated by journalist Daniel Nee, who was formerly senior field editor for Patch in Ocean City. Nee also operates Brick Shorebeat and Lavellette-Seaside & Ortley Beach Shorebeat. Revenue: Advertising

Voices of Monterey Bay is a nonprofit news outlet serving Monterey and Santa Cruz counties in Northern California. The nonprofit organization launched in 2017. Revenue: Grants, donations