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Fired by her parent company, a former editor speaks

In late April, Gannett Co. executives fired the editor in charge of the company’s newspapers in west and northern Michigan. The firing came shortly after she spoke to the Poynter Institute about news gathering resources in the region.

She spoke about it with Interlochen Public Radio.

Northern Michigan isn’t alone in confronting the challenge of diminishing news resources.

Communities nationwide have started tackling this issue with creativity and nationwide philanthropies are gearing up to funnel more than $500 million into supporting local journalism. 

Here are some additional resources to inform our discussion.

Northwestern University’s State of Local News 2023, including Michigan-specific findings.

American Communities report on local news.

The Press Forward Initiative, to funnel more than $500 million into supporting local news and the role it envisions for local funders.

Nearly 300 digital local news outlets have launched since 2016. Here are some interesting ones.

The Solutions Journalism Network’s Local Media Project — a model that might work in northern Michigan. The project is already at work in southwest Michigan.

 Media policy and building a stronger local media ecosystem, from the Columbia Journalism Review.

Reviving Rural News: Transforming the Business Model of Community Journalism in the US and Beyond (Disruptions)” by by Teri Finneman, Nick Mathews and Patrick Ferrucci. To be published Feb. 2, 2024