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What experts and advocates are saying about ‘What Works in Community News’
“A fresh, optimistic, and necessary exploration of what really works in the crucially important realm of local news. Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy focus on journalist-entrepreneurs who are successfully building news organizations in their own communities. Their book, energetically researched and engagingly written, is a much-needed antidote to all the hopeless handwringing over the loss of local newspapers.” — Margaret Sullivan, author of “Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy”
“What a great and important book. Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy have been among the most creative, captivating, and wise chroniclers of the convulsive changes in local news—not only the sweeping forces but also the on-the-ground efforts to repair and rebuild. This book provides great hope that the field is full of passionate, brilliant people who are going to figure this out.” — Steven Waldman, founder of Rebuild Local News and cofounder of Report for America
“In ‘What Works in Community News,’ Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy train their lens on a dozen local news organizations that are creating new for-profit and nonprofit business models to serve communities of all sizes. With a journalist’s eye for detail and a reporter’s knack for storytelling, they’ve produced a valuable reference book for entrepreneurs and a compelling read for anyone interested in saving and reviving local news.” — Penelope Muse Abernathy, author of “Saving Community Journalism: The Path to Profitability”
“The malignant threat to local news is finally getting the attention it deserves. ‘What Works in Community News’ pulls together in one place innovative approaches from across the country to stave off growing ‘news deserts.’ You can’t help but find this book nourishing if you care about preserving local news — and our democracy.” — Gregory L. Moore, former editor of The Denver Post
“Crackling with insights and richly detailed, this sharply written book is essential reading for anyone interested in journalism’s future and the democracy it serves. The trailblazing on-the-ground community news experiments featured in Clegg’s and Kennedy’s masterful study expands our imagination for what local journalism could look like, offering glimmers of real hope in a time of hollowed-out newsrooms and systemic media failure. We all should engage with the lessons contained inside this wonderful book.” — Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy without Journalism? Confronting the Misinformation Society”
“‘What Works in Community News’ is a comprehensive history and analysis of major news ecosystems in the emerging digital media landscape. Clegg and Kennedy candidly report on how well (or not) nonprofit, public benefit, and for-profit news organizations are filling gaps in local news coverage. They find that while online news has supplemented and even replaced legacy newspapers in regions of the U.S., much more needs to be done to ensure all Americans have the news they need. — Anne Galloway, VTDigger founder and editor-at-large
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