Technological and social changes, as well as the rise of corporate chain ownership, have hollowed out local newsrooms across the country. Yet a new generation of independent startups prove reasons for hope. How can we revive local news and help spark a revival of civic engagement in a time of political polarization and rising threats to a free press?

Dan Kennedy is a professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University and a nationally known media commentator. He has written three books about the future of journalism, most recently What Works in Community News: Media Startups, New Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate, with Ellen Clegg, which was long-listed for a 2025 Massachusetts Book Award. He is a 2019 winner of the Yankee Quill Award, a career recognition from the New England Academy of Journalists. His blog, Media Nation, is online at dankennedy.net.

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