Knight Foundation to invest $5 million with Village Media to launch 15 local newsrooms in US communities
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation on July 22 announced a significant investment to launch digital newsrooms in 15 U.S. communities across three states — including Wisconsin — in partnership with Village Media.
The $5 million investment will bring Village Media’s proven model for sustainable, community-first local journalism to the U.S. The new markets will be developed and operated by Village Media.
The partnership reflects a shared belief that local journalism is essential civic infrastructure — and that communities need trusted information as well as stronger ways to connect, participate, pursue opportunities, solve problems and support local life.
Headquartered in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Village Media operates one of North America’s most successful digital-only local news networks, currently serving 27 communities and 4 million unique visitors. The company has built a sustainable model rooted in local reporting, community engagement, advertising, events and civic participation. Its work is organized around five pillars: inform, connect, grow, support and empower.
The initiative will focus on three clusters of communities across three U.S. states, starting with Wisconsin. Village has tentatively targeted Pennsylvania and Illinois as the other two initial states and expects to announce specific markets and launch timing at a later date.
The new U.S. newsrooms will be built on Village Media’s digital publishing platform, community engagement tools and operating model. Each newsroom will be locally focused, locally staffed and designed to serve the distinct needs of its community.
Read more in the Knight Foundation release from Editor & Publisher here
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Local media
The hollowing out of the local news ecosystem has been well documented; in some communities, efforts are underway to reverse the growing news desert.