On the latest “What Works” podcast, Ellen and Dan talk with Dale Anglin, the inaugural executive director of Press Forward, a philanthropic effort that is dedicated to funding local news initiatives nationwide.
Before she was named as the leader of Press Forward, Anglin served as a vice president for grantmaking at the Cleveland Foundation. She also led the foundation’s journalism strategy. Then and now, she focuses on local news and information as a way to restore a sense of community.
Dan has a Quick Take on The Baltimore Banner, one of the most prominent nonprofit digital startups. It looks like readers of The Washington Post who live in the DC area may not be deprived of local news and sports after all despite the recent deep cuts ordered by its billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos. The Banner is expanding, and it’s part of executive editor Audrey Cooper’s mission to build civic engagement through community journalism.
Ellen’s Quick Take is on a bill in New York state that attempts to put some guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms. Among other things, it would require disclosures and mandate supervision and fact-checking by actual human editors. It received a hearty endorsement from journalism industry unions. But there’s a lot of catching up to do to rein in the robots.
You can listen to our conversation here, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcast app.
A summary of our conversation
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Dale Anglin, the first executive director of Press Forward, joined Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy to discuss the philanthropic initiative’s mission, its growing network of local chapters, the crisis in public media, and the language and strategies that can help sustain local journalism for the long term.
The Origins and Mission of Press Forward
Press Forward launched in late 2023 as a large-scale donor collaborative focused on strengthening local news — meaning hyperlocal, city, and state coverage, but not national media. The initiative began with 22 foundations and has since grown to more than 130 foundations and individual donors. Anglin explained that while philanthropy had been funding journalism, it hadn’t been doing so at the scale or with the intentionality that the crisis demanded. Press Forward’s central work has been convincing foundations that have never thought of themselves as journalism funders to begin investing in local news.
The initiative has organized its priorities around several pillars: infrastructure (the underlying systems that support all types of local news), equity, sustainability (so that outlets aren’t perpetually dependent on the same philanthropic sources), and public policy (working to secure government support for local news). Anglin emphasized that the goal is to leave no funding source untapped, whether philanthropic, individual, or governmental.
Local Chapters as a Lasting Legacy
One of Press Forward’s most distinctive strategies is its network of local chapters — now 44 chapters across 34 states. These chapters are initiated by local foundations but quickly expand to include cross-sector stakeholders: libraries, universities, residents, and others. Their purpose is to assess the local news ecosystem, identify what coverage exists, determine what’s missing, and figure out how to support outlets already doing the work.
Anglin described the chapters as “many Press Forwards.” Some, like the Chicago chapter, have attracted as many as 50 different foundations and donors. The chapters are tasked with conducting both supply-side scans (who are the outlets in the area?) and demand-side scans (what does the community actually want from its news?). Anglin stressed that foundations should not assume they know what a community needs. Many chapters have created grant-making and advisory committees that include community voices in funding decisions.
Anglin said she wants the chapters to be one of Press Forward’s most lasting legacies — permanent structures that continue supporting local outlets well into the future.
Navigating the Public Media Crisis
Dan Kennedy raised the case of NJ Spotlight News, which Anglin had supported long before Press Forward existed. NJ Spotlight, which merged with NJ PBS and became a model for public media–journalism partnerships, is now in jeopardy because of the federal government’s elimination of funding for public broadcasting, compounded by New Jersey’s decision to end its state subsidy for NJ PBS.
Anglin acknowledged the tension but pointed to encouraging signs. Americans have rallied to support public media, donating to their local stations in record numbers over the past six months, and very few stations have actually closed. A separate initiative, the Public Media Bridge Fund, has raised nearly $70 million in less than six months. Press Forward itself, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, has funded seven chapters that are working with local public media stations to adapt to the new funding environment. Anglin described Press Forward’s role in public media as collaborative rather than leading — working alongside many partners to figure out what the next chapter of public media will look like.
Responding to Critiques from Small Outlets
Ellen Clegg asked about concerns from very small, hyperlocal publishers who worry that large philanthropic organizations favor more traditional, brand-name news projects with greater reach. Some of these small outlets have formed their own organization, the Alliance of Nonprofit News Outlets, designed to be decentralized.
Anglin responded carefully, noting that no single group of outlets or foundations should be painted with a broad brush. She said Press Forward sits between the philanthropy world and the news world and does a great deal of translation between the two. The initiative trains its chapters on how to evaluate outlets — including how to assess editorial independence, revenue mix, and organizational capacity. She emphasized that funding shouldn’t be limited to editorial work; foundations can also help outlets with board development, hiring development officers, and adopting new technologies.
Press Forward’s first open call in 2024 was deliberately aimed at small outlets with budgets under $1 million, specifically to demonstrate to the philanthropy field that smaller players deserve support. Over 40 percent of the funded outlets were led by people of color, served communities of color, or were located in underserved rural areas. Anglin pushed back against philanthropy’s instinct toward scale, arguing that in local news, scale may not be the answer — people want news delivered in ways that suit their communities, which requires sustaining a diverse mix of outlet sizes.
Words That Work: The Language of Local News
Anglin discussed a major research initiative called “Words That Work,” available on the Press Forward website. The study examined how different audiences perceive the language used to describe local news. One key finding: the word “journalism” means different things to different people. For older audiences it may conjure Walter Cronkite; for those under 30, it could mean a TikTok influencer. What resonated consistently across demographics was the language of “local news” and “news and information” — especially when framed around helping people make quality-of-life decisions, understand local elections, and stay informed about what’s happening in their communities.
Anglin said Press Forward has been coaching outlets to use language that emphasizes how they equip communities to understand themselves and make changes. The research found that people across all demographics want fact-based local reporting and are less enthusiastic about opinion-driven content. Getting the language right, she said, is essential not just for public communication but for fundraising.
Public Policy as a Pillar
Anglin described Press Forward’s public policy work as long-term coalition building. The initiative isn’t advocating for any single policy mechanism — whether fellowships, tax credits, or tax breaks — but is supporting experimentation across states including New York, Illinois, California, and Washington. Press Forward is funding first-mile coalition building in seven or eight states, helping to assemble diverse groups of stakeholders — outlets, universities, and others who care about local news — so that when a legislator is ready to move on a local news bill, there’s already an organized constituency ready to work with them.
Serving Diverse Communities
Anglin highlighted the different challenges facing rural areas, where broadband gaps and geographic spread make both digital and print distribution difficult, and urban communities of color, where news may exist but fails to cover certain populations or deliver information in the right languages. She cited examples including Conecta Arizona, which began on WhatsApp in Spanish during COVID to share health information; El Tímpano in Oakland; and Sahan Journal in Minnesota, which serves Somali and Ethiopian communities. Each of these outlets arose from specific community needs and has since expanded well beyond its original scope.
Media Diet
Anglin shared that her own news consumption is deeply rooted in Ohio, where she lives, including outlets like Signal Cleveland, the Buckeye Flame, the Richland Source, and the Athens Independent. She also follows national outlets with local focus, such as The Trace, which covers gun violence. She emphasized that news consumption today extends far beyond reading — video, audio, and podcasts are central, especially for younger audiences. The challenge, she said, is helping quality, fact-based journalism find its way to people amid the noise. She praised outlets that are creating community spaces — running cafés, hosting events, building a new public square — as the model for how local news can remain relevant by being part of the answer, not just describing the problems.
