SmartNews - Local News Becomes a Community Staple
Application software download free Android: SmartNews - Local News
With so many local news sources eviscerated by financial siege, how can we ensure that people have information about urgent health and safety issues, their neighborhoods, the workings of city hall, public schools and the daily delivery of critical services like healthcare and transportation?
The most important function of local journalism is to provide residents with news across a range of topics in a way that helps them live their lives and take part in the community. That means providing them with the latest on government policies, traffic and weather — as well as with in-depth reports that help them make sense of complex local issues such as economic development, zoning and land use.
But the biggest reason why more institutional foundations and high-net worth individuals are giving to local news is because they care about democracy and civic engagement, which only work with informed communities. They know that they can’t do that without strong local news, and want to see those reporters keep an eye on corrupt police or shady business practices, for example.
As more funders are embracing this new practice, it’s also worth remembering what sets these initiatives apart from previous efforts to support local news: They’re collaborative. They bring together national and local philanthropy, they work with community organizations, and they collaborate with journalists themselves to develop sustainable models that give the new local news a chance to grow into community stalwarts.