Local Media Association

My TV news boss once told me, “In journalism, there are no rules — just tools,” a reminder that great journalism is driven less by rigid processes than by thoughtful decisions, strong communication and collaboration. Tools don’t replace good judgment. They amplify it. Artificial intelligence is one of those tools. Think about it.

Most newsrooms think of podcasts as products. Those products could include a series about an important topic with 10-12 episodes, or perhaps weekly conversations about politics, health or sports. These podcasts could be sponsored by a local or national business, or they could be presented to a podcast network for advertisers to bid on. These bidding businesses place their ads on podcasts whose audiences match theirs.

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are one of the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicles in the U.S. — and a largely untapped revenue opportunity for local news leaders. That opportunity was the focus of a recent Lab Link webinar hosted by Local Media Association’s Lab for Journalism Funding, with support from Knight Foundation.

Local news organizations across the country are wrestling with the same challenge: how do you cover more communities when resources are stretched thin? At Connecticut Public, the answer wasn’t to replace journalists. It was to build tools that help journalists discover stories they might otherwise miss.

As we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, we’re looking back at four stories that topped the list of what local media leaders were reading on the Local Media Association website for the first half of 2026. We’re calling it “Four for the Fourth!” Privacy regulations are rewriting the rules of digital advertising, and publishers are scrambling to keep up. That’s probably why Todd Handy’s conversation on Keep It Local became one of the year’s most-clicked stories so far.

(June 24, 2025) — All local media companies are invited to apply to join the 2026 national cohort of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding to learn strategies to sustain their journalism with philanthropic support. Thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, this program will bring the lab’s proven training and fundraising impact to up to 20 news organizations across the country.

The traditional journalism career path — moving from one newsroom to a larger one, climbing the masthead, and steadily advancing through the ranks — no longer reflects the reality facing many media professionals today. That’s one of the key findings from career researcher and MyCareerRiver founder Bridget Thoreson, who has spent the past several years interviewing professionals about how they navigate career uncertainty and change.

For many local media organizations, podcasting remains stuck in the “someday” category. The idea sounds appealing. The execution often feels overwhelming. Questions about equipment, studios, production workflows, distribution and monetization can quickly create paralysis before a newsroom ever records its first episode. That’s one of the reasons Local Media Association Digital Content Coordinator Ryan Welton created a new LMII Innovation Insights report focused on the fundamentals of podcasting.

Ruby Jones didn’t set out to create a nonprofit that spans youth storytelling, media literacy, community news and workforce communications training. But after years as a journalist, contributor and editor, she saw gaps that traditional media wasn’t filling. Those observations ultimately led to the creation of Empower Media Exchange, a Colorado-based nonprofit that earned Jones the 2025 Digital Innovation Award for Rising Star in Innovation from Local Media Association.

AI isn’t just a tool to increase the efficiency of newsrooms. AI will profoundly change the ways people find and share information, and news leaders must prepare now for these transformative disruptions to tier business. Newsroom Robots founder Nikita Roy describes three massive disruptions to the traditional model of news, and how leaders can meet this moment and leverage the opportunities created by AI.