Case Study: Rural News Fund
An innovative, place-rooted model for strengthening local news
Partners: Invest Appalachia, Appalachia Funders Network, Press Forward Central Appalachia, Media Growth Partners, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Context / Starting Conditions
The Rural News Fund was launched by Invest Appalachia (IA), a regional impact investment fund born out of the Appalachia Funders Network with a track record of deploying catalytic capital in food systems, agriculture, clean energy, and community health since 2022. Building on this experience, IA extended its model to local news in Central Appalachia – recognizing journalism as a core civic asset.
This work was informed by regional research that demonstrated strong civic engagement was linked to improved health and economic outcomes. As locally-rooted newsrooms faced mounting pressures, communities risked losing not just information outlets, but a vital form of civic infrastructure that supports participation, connection, and long-term regional resilience.
Core Challenge
Across Central Appalachia, many rural news organizations demonstrate strong community trust, local relevance, and public value. Yet they often operate in a narrow financial position – capable of impact and growth, but without easy access to the capital required to strengthen internal systems or invest for the future.
Years of resource-constrained operations amid shifting advertising markets, population change, and limited access to philanthropy means that many newsrooms are not well positioned to absorb traditional debt. The challenge is not a lack of mission, but the absence of structured, regionally grounded pathways to financial readiness.
Catalytic Intervention
Launched in 2025, the Rural News Fund introduced a multi-year, cohort-based model that intentionally combines flexible capital with hands-on technical assistance focused on advancing investment readiness. Rather than leading with loans, the fund creates an “on-ramp” through grants that allow newsrooms to stabilize operations, strengthen internal capacity, and demonstrate financial viability over time.
Central to this approach is IA’s “proof of place” strategy: making visible – and legible to outside capital – the investable assets embedded in Appalachian communities. By emphasizing local strength, trust, and knowledge, the Rural News Fund challenges persistent narratives and current investment practices that often consider rural regions too small, risky, or fragmented for serious investment.
Capital Types
The fund deploys a layered set of catalytic tools aligned with early-stage readiness, including:
- Recoverable grants, structured to function like 0% loans with flexible terms
- Loan guarantees to reduce risk and invite additional capital
- Technical assistance (TA) grants to support operational strengthening and financial stability
This blend allows capital to meet organizations where they are, sequencing support in ways that build organizational readiness.
Support Structures
Participating news organizations engage in peer-learning cohorts that reduce isolation and foster shared problem-solving around common challenges. The fund will also facilitate access to shared services, helping organizations lower costs and improve operational efficacy.
Oversight and accountability for the Rural News Fund is anchored by Invest Appalachia’s Community Advisory Council composed of local leaders. This structure ensures that capital deployment remains aligned with regional priorities and community-defined measures of success.
What This Enabled
The Rural News Fund creates a clear, credible pathway for rural newsrooms to move from short-term financial strain toward greater stability. By addressing foundational needs first, the model enables organizations to strengthen balance sheets, professionalize operations, identify new revenue streams, and prepare for more complex forms of capital, shifting the focus from survival to stewardship and sustainable growth.
Early Signals & Learnings
One early takeaway is that peer learning is itself a powerful catalyst. Rural news leaders often work alone, with few opportunities to learn from others facing similar challenges. Being part of a cohort of peers operating in comparable geographic and economic conditions has helped build confidence, momentum, and a sense of shared possibility. News organizations note that seeing others make progress makes it easier to take informed risks and stay committed over time.
Just as importantly, the design of the Rural News Fund’s capital has reinforced this peer learning. Because the funding is flexible and paired with relationship-based support, participating outlets are encouraged to think entrepreneurially and move beyond “business as usual.” Early engagement shows strong interest in experimenting with new approaches that better fit rural realities. Together, peer connection and right-sized capital are helping unlock innovation, fill financing gaps, and strengthen the already interconnected Appalachian media ecosystem.
Why This Matters for the Field
The Rural News Fund reframes local news as essential civic infrastructure—on par with clean water, broadband, or energy systems—and treats rural communities as sites of investment opportunity and innovation. By applying catalytic capital principles to news, the model demonstrates how flexible, regenerative financing can strengthen ecosystems from within.
For the broader field, the lesson is clear: when capital is patient, adaptive, and paired with community accountability, rural news ecosystems can be strengthened and sustained.