A civic revival begins locally

In 2026, journalists will stop wringing our hands about disengagement and news exhaustion — and start focusing on serving the audience that is already here, begging for the work we alone can do.

We call the people we’re talking about “civic catalysts,” and we learned about them last year, when Civic News Company conducted a study of civic participation in the U.S. Yes, our civic fabric is historically weak by a number of measures. But we wanted to know: Despite those trends, how many Americans are still putting in the work to fight for a better future for their local communities? How many are still showing up to school board meetings, calling up local elected officials, and actively fighting to improve their community’s systems?

The answer: over 50 million Americans. Fifteen percent of respondents reported that in addition to voting, consuming political information, and doing important community service, they are also catalyzing civic change.

That group of civic catalysts includes Americans of all ages, races, and backgrounds: 17% of 18 to 35-year-olds and 15% of those 65-plus, 13% of those who said they voted for President Trump in 2020, and 18% of those who said they voted for President Biden, 17% of Americans who live in cities, and 14% who live in the suburbs or rural communities, 15% of Americans in the Midwest, 15% in the Northeast, 14% in the South, and 16% in the West.

But the study also revealed something concerning: These important Americans feel even less well-served by local news and information than their fellow Americans. Across all 10 topics we asked about in the survey — including three we cover at Civic News Company: local education, local elections, and local health — civic catalysts were 7 to 15% less likely to see the local news and information they get as living up to the importance of the issue.

These are the Americans who galvanize others to feel urgency around the issues within our control, who encourage the rest of us to put down our phones, stop scrolling through reels, and take action. If the people who are actively fighting for our communities don’t feel well served by local media, what hope do we have of convincing more Americans to join them?

In 2026, our mission will be to show up for as many of those civic catalysts as we can in as many places as we can. We will use the dark arts of growth marketing to do the good work of connecting local teachers, poll workers, and nurses who are already active in their communities with the information they need to make their activism even more effective.

Today, Chalkbeat does that work for the people working to strengthen schools in Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Indiana, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Tennessee with its local bureaus. It does that for people across the country with its national coverage. Votebeat does that for people fighting for trustworthy and fair elections across the country in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. Healthbeat launched last year in Atlanta and New York City.

Our journalists dig into these focused beats because it’s what allows them to do the kind of reporting these civic catalysts need and trust. We work to expand because while we are proud to be in 15 communities and to employ almost 50 talented civic journalists, the 51 million civic catalysts fighting for this country are spread across many more communities.

By serving them, we help them fight for a better country. In 2026, we see the beginning of a civic revival, coming to a local community near you.