Local Journalism Project (LPJ)

There is strong evidence that the decline of local news outlets, particularly newspapers, has eroded civic engagement, knowledge, and trust—helping disinformation to proliferate. Bolstering local journalism could plausibly help to arrest or reverse such trends. MEDI's Local Journalism Project is an addition to a growing movement of community-focused journalism across the country that is shifting how the critical stories of our time are being told. MEDIA as an organization is determined to make bold investments in local news organizations and the networks that support and grow them. Accelerating the enabling environment for news production and dissemination is necessary to rebuild social inclusion and citizen participation in democracies.The need to scale the infrastructure required to support a thriving, independent local news sector, expanding shared services and tools—from legal support to membership programs has never been more urgent. MEDIA will continue to explore the prospects of closing long standing inequalities in journalism coverage and practice and advancing public policies that expand access to local news and civic information.