The Largo Free Press

23/05/2024

With City of Largo, Florida USA – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

20/05/2024

04/05/2024

Wake up

15/02/2024

Two tales of retired journalists becoming news entrepreneurs
Asheville, North Carolina, is an attractive community for retirees. Some arrivals before the pandemic were retired journalists, many of whom had won or been nominated for Pulitzer Prizes and had distinguished careers at The Miami Herald, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other major news outlets. By happenstance, several of them were guests at a party hosted by the general manager of the local public radio station.

During their conversation, several of the former journalists agreed there was a lack of in-depth news coverage in Asheville. The Asheville Citizen Times is the major newspaper in the city, but being Gannett-owned, the staff has been reduced so much that there is no time for investigative reporting.

Four of the retired journalists, Sally Kestin, Tom Fiedler, Peter Lewis, Barbara Durr and Kestin's husband, Bob Gremillion, recognized an opportunity to contribute their journalistic expertise and their available time to the community and launched the Asheville Watchdog in April 2020.

Bob Gremillion, publisher, chief executive officer and co-founder of the Asheville Watchdog, “The community has embraced us incredibly. Our story about the city trying to clean up downtown received many comments crediting us with bringing the problem to light, as investigative reporters do, and caused the city and the county to react,” Gremillion said.

The retired journalists are all volunteers, and The Watchdog is free — without a paywall. Initially, the Citizen Times published The Watchdog’s stories, but that collaboration ended when the Citizen Times wanted to put those stories behind a paywall, which conflicted with The Watchdog’s mission.

Peter Lewis, former senior writer, editor and columnist at The New York Times and with tenures at many other newspapers, joined The Watchdog as its managing editor. He and the other volunteer retired journalists quickly realized they needed new and younger journalists to boost The Watchdog’s reporting and prepare for a future without the retirees.

Peter Lewis, reporter and former managing editor of the Asheville Watchdog
“We’ve hired two paid, full-time reporters, one of whom is John Boyle, a well-known reporter at the Citizen Times. We have recently hired Keith Campbell, the retired vice president and managing editor of The Dallas Morning News, as our full-time managing editor. The board named me executive editor, a volunteer position that will give more time opportunities to report and write,” Lewis said.

A similar tale is being written in Greenup, Kentucky, a small town on the Ohio River. Cathie Shaffer was the editor and general manager of The Greenup News-Times since 2004, the longtime hometown newspaper in Greenup. The loss of advertising during the early days of the pandemic forced The News-Times to close, and Shaffer suddenly was unemployed. She had planned to retire at age 72 and become a freelance reporter and editor for other newspapers in the area.

Her son, who is also in the newspaper business, his wife and Shaffer decided Greenup still needed a paper and launched The Greenup Gazette in July 2020. Mason Branham, who had been the sports and features writer at The News-Times, is the other member of the staff.

“There had been a newspaper in Greenup County for 150 years, and people considered it a utility. They didn’t realize it could be shut down. I started The Gazette with my stimulus money and some of my unemployment. From the first day, we had many people come to the office and subscribe,” Shaffer said.

Cathie Shaffer, founder, publisher and editor of The Greenup Gazette Shaffer added The Gazette is a countywide newspaper with subscribers throughout the county and the largest number in Greenup. Even before the first issue, many local advertisers said if she started the paper, then they would advertise. The plan is for her son to leave his current position and assume many editorial duties while Shaffer focuses on selling advertisers until she is ready to retire.

When asked what advice she would share with other longtime journalists who might consider launching a newspaper, she said, “We don’t do it for the money or the glory. We do it because this is what we do, and age should not stop us. If you still want to be a journalist or editor, then you should do it.”

15/02/2024

“Let's start a newspaper!” It is a very challenging idea even for an experienced publisher, editor or journalist with the necessary business acumen and sources of capital. However, when a 16-year-old high school student declares such an intention, few would bet on its success — unless they wer...

15/02/2024

Freedom of speech is one of the greatest achievements of the Founding Fathers. They understood that if the people were the ultimate rulers, not kings or despots, they must be able to criticize the government and its officials. Like the other freedoms embodied in the U.S. Constitution, freedom of spe...

28/01/2024

Local print publications across the state continue to produce newspapers, maintaining Michigan's rich historical journalism legacy. Find your paper:

25/01/2024

Strengthening local news would have broad civic benefits and could lead to happier, healthier communities, whether red, purple or blue.

24/01/2024

Five lessons from successful local news startups

18/01/2024

Empowering communities.
Preserving democracy.
Rebuilding local news.

Local journalism keeps communities informed and holds the powerful accountable, but it’s under threat. Join the movement to rebuild and sustain it.

18/01/2024

The Community News & Small Business Support Act

HR 4756 Representative Claudia Tenney (R) and Susan DelBene (D) of New York: Status: House Committee on Ways and Means

Cosponsors of H.R.4756 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Community News and Small Business Support Act

18/01/2024

Rebuilding Local News: A nationwide initiative.

Local news coverage is collapsing. The number of newsroom employees has declined 60 percent since 2000, a job decline similar in scale to the coal

18/01/2024

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/briefing/local-journalism.html?smid=url-share

We highlight some of the best work from news outlets across the U.S.

16/01/2024

Read the full investigation into the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Heart Institute.

13/01/2024

Local news is essential to democracy.

Chicago area residents deserve a local news ecosystem as diverse and hardworking as they are. The decline of local news is connected to growing threats to de...

26/10/2023

The two main types of nonprofit organizations under federal law are 501(c)(3)s and 501(c)(4)s. 501(c)(3)s are often referred to as public charities, while 501(c)(4)s are referred to as social welfare organizations. One of the main differences between the two types is that 501(c)(3)s are prohibited f...

25/10/2023

The Brookside Police Department’s shakedown of travelers became a national news story and prompted federal lawsuits.

25/10/2023

An investigation into academic research leads to the resignation of Stanford University's president.

12/10/2023

A coalition of 22 donors announce their new national initiative Press Forward, with the goal to strengthen communities and democracy by supporting local news and information with an infusion of more …

12/10/2023

ICYMI: “Journalists of Color Worry a $500 Million Effort to Boost Local News Outlets Will Leave Them Behind. Several organizations are urging the Press Forward Initiative to commit more explicitly to funding diverse news outlets.” By David Bauder, AP Media Writer for The Chronicle Of Philanthropy. bit.ly/3LE8dYk

12/10/2023

12/10/2023

In an era marked by misinformation and the decline of traditional media, the preservation of local news has emerged as a critical endeavor.

As a Foundation committed to the well-being of society, we recognize the urgent need to support and sustain local journalism. By investing in local news, we can strengthen democracy, empower communities, and foster an informed citizenry.

We're excited to announce , a robust coalition of funders who aim to infuse local journalism with a billion dollars over the next five years.

Learn more: https://macfound.org/press/press-releases/press-forward-will-award-more-than-500-million-to-revitalize-local-news