History

Since 2018, News Futures has been a collective of people, ideas, and spaces focused on building a participatory and networked future for local news. Our work helps leaders from across the news and information field strategize, build and recharge together.

After six years of growth and experimentation—including five annual conferences known as FLN Camp; the production of publications and public ideas and products; and incubation of peer-led working groups—we’re building a future where:

  • Everyone knows where to go for reliable and accessible news and information that is actionable and relevant to their lives.

  • All people are equipped to participate in civic life.

  • Local news ecosystems thrive based on the unique needs, assets and culture of their communities; and

  • Community and civic media organizations are well-funded, sustainable and demanded by local communities.

Camp/Retreats

Projects/Products

Working Groups

Governance

  • Our first convening brought 12 news leaders together in Detroit for “a gathering designed to be equal parts strategizing, building and recharging.” Organized by Sarah Alvarez, with coordination assistance from Darryl Holliday and financial support from Democracy Fund, the group set out to explore a question: Which values and casemaking models will grow our brand of journalism?

2018

  • The original 12 stewards of FLN continued to connect in the months following the first FLN Camp, leading to the first outcome of our work—the “Hierarchy of Information Needs,” a framework for prioritizing journalistic outputs. Co-author Harry Backlund wrote at the time: “Journalists have a huge amount of power to control the flow of information and shape public narratives, yet we have no structure with which to make sense of that power or let others hold us accountable. And we can’t claim to address the civic needs of a democracy if we have no strategy for meeting the basic information needs of those who live in it.”

    In the coming years, the hierarchy would be used by newsrooms and journalism support organizations to direct their coverage and convene their communities around local information needs

2019

  • Following nationwide lockdowns and the sudden but severe challenges to public health and community life following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, FLN Camp returned with renewed purpose and vision with News Futures contributors regrouping in Detroit to discuss a central question: How are we preparing for industry decline and what does it look like to meet the moment?

    Organized by Darryl Holliday with coordination support from Sarah Alvarez and Candice Fortman, FLN Camp 2021 introduced the +1 system of growth that would define News Futures for the next several years. Existing News Futures stewards were invited to bring a guest, growing our community to 24 news leaders, researchers and media organizers.

  • As stewards continued to meet, debate and discuss, the call to structure FLN grew internally. A subset of our community—Cierra Hinton, Darryl Holliday, Courtney Lewis, Eve Pearlman and Mike Rispoli—volunteered to draft a statement of purpose for FLN’s work. 

2021

2022

  • Working groups are introduced as a means of continuing FLN’s work between the annual FLN Camp convening. The first cohort of working groups focused on the growing field of media policy and conversations around journalism’s “theory of change,” i.e. a measurable description of a social change that forms the basis for planning, ongoing decision-making and evaluation.

  • FLN’s media policy working group evolves into the Media Power Collaborative, a program of Free Press led by Mike Rispoli. The Media Power Collaborative is an organizing space for media workers, movement organizers and allied researchers to build a shared vision for the future of our local media system and to make change in their communities. 

  • At the 2022 FLN Camp in Atlanta, we set out to craft a shared vision for a more equitable, accessible future for local news—one that would invite and inspire others to join us in building that future. Together, we explored what a diverse, fully-resourced local media landscape could look, feel, and function like, as we reimagined the impact of our work. Discussions focused on how to present communities with a vision of what’s possible and a clear path to achieve it. Attendees examined assets, funding strategies, and the preparations needed for this transition, all while asking, “How do we define and describe a shared vision for local journalism that motivates people to be a part of it?” 

2023

  • Our second cohort of working groups included an increase in the overall number of working groups we support, with a focus on democratizing journalism through newsroom-sponsored community trainings, the role of care in journalistic practices and an internal series of conversations aimed at developing a collective vision for the future of FLN.

  • FLN stewards Darryl Holliday and Mike Rispoli join forces with Civic News Company founder Elizabeth Green to produce the Roadmap for Local News: An Emergent Approach to Meeting Civic Information Needs. 

    Though not a direct output of FLN, the Roadmap draws heavily from FLN documentation and conversations to produce “a year-long research effort informed by a broad and diverse coalition of newsroom leaders, journalists, and innovators in the field of local news. These contributors shared “a vision of a world in which people everywhere are equipped to improve their communities through abundant access to high-quality information, on urgent health and safety emergencies, the environment, the people and processes of local government, and daily social services like healthcare, education, and transportation.”

  • FLN steward Carla Murphy works with staff to organize our first writing retreat to Blue Mountain Center in the New York Adirondacks. 

  • At the 2023 FLN Camp, we gathered again to strategize, build, and recharge, focusing on our collective vision for what a well-resourced FLN could achieve. With increased funds, influence, and visibility, attendees dove into a core question: What do we want FLN to be, and how should it be governed? Conversations were both reflective and forward-looking, assessing how to measure FLN’s success and whether it was on track to meet its original mission. This year’s Camp created space for deep insights and bold ideas, preparing FLN to make the most of its momentum and continue evolving in alignment with our shared goals.

  • Stewards and contributors vote to ratify a decision-making structure, elect FLN’s first executive steward and establish the group’s first Gardening Club, an elected body of stewards.

  • FLN partners with Free Press and The Objective to commission a series of op-eds from news leaders from across the US who are aligned with the Roadmap for Local News’ call for a civic media revival. The op-ed project explores how the challenges facing local news are better viewed as a civic health issue, necessitating a shift from traditional models to community-centered "civic media."

    The Civic Media Series features perspectives from diverse media practitioners who use innovative approaches—like collaborations with libraries, churches, and grassroots networks—to ensure equitable access to quality information. The op-ed series advocates for coalition-building, public investment, and new funding models to create sustainable, community-driven media that supports democratic participation and serves marginalized communities.

  • The Care Collaboratory started as six virtual monthly gatherings from February to July of 2023. The sessions were designed to a) explore practices and conditions that lead people to care for each other b) get inspiration, examples and resources that help evolve our work c) help articulate the why and how of this work, and some definitions and d) build a community of practice with care at the center. It resulted in a zine called: Take Care/Make Care: Dispatches from the NF Care Collaboratory.

  • Community members approve an organizational renaming from FLN (ie the Future of Local News collective) to News Futures.

2024

  • Our third cohort of working groups doubles the number of groups operating in a single year, revisiting issues of care in the storytelling process and media policy while exploring new issues, including an analysis of civic media organizations in the US, a community media event in West Virginia and the development of stronger alliances with community media centers across the country.

  • News Futures returns to Blue Mountain Center in the New York Adirondacks for rest and a series of working sessions centered on the needs of News Futures working groups.

  • FLN steward Nina Wiengrill produces the Civic Media Census, a research report aimed at understanding the characteristics, values, and practices of local civic media, a growing movement of organizations advocating that journalism is a tool for change and should not be limited to merely informing the public. 

    The report offers insights into patterns among these organizations, such as methods of community participation and engagement, mechanisms for measuring local impact, and the emergence of a new journalistic ethos.

  • At FLN Camp 2024, we hosted 35 attendees for a collaborative, forward-looking gathering centered on the question: How can we work with civic allies and build cross-field power to reimagine local news as a more participatory and public medium? This gathering offered ample space for strategic discussions, shared learning, and community-building around our evolving vision.

    One of the event’s highlights was the discussion and unanimous ratification of the inaugural News Futures Charter. Created by News Futures staff and the Gardening Club based on six years of collective insight and input, the charter formalizes News Futures' mission, governance, and values. It affirms our commitment to a collaborative, do-ocratic approach to building equitable news systems and offers a blueprint for future growth as an open, contributor-driven community.