Press Forward’s grants to newsrooms to close coverage gaps were transformational for many small newsrooms nationwide. But to make sure these outlets were prepared for the long haul, Press Forward organized a range of support services, including partnering with the Maynard Institute to create a six-month initiative. Participants from small newsrooms in the Midwest left with clearer sustainability strategies, stronger business practices and tangible gains such as successful fundraising campaigns and improved advertising offerings. Plus, the program built a lasting network of local media leaders who continue to learn from and support one another.
Designed for outlets with annual budgets under $300,000, the program combined intensive in-person workshops in Kansas City with twice-monthly virtual sessions. Its curriculum deliberately balanced revenue generation with journalism fundamentals, covering reader revenues, advertising, ethics and standards, audience engagement, management, research on a small budget, and practical tools such as AI. The structure was intentional and paced, opening and closing with in-person convenings and emphasizing accountability, goal-setting and peer learning.
The “Reigniting Local News” program met in person in Kansas City. Back row, left to right: Martin Reynolds, Maynard Institute; Dickson Louie, Maynard Institute; Caesar Andrews, University of Nevada, Reno; Jason Cole, Excelsior Citizen; Talibdin El-Amin, St. Louis Argus; Dana James, Black Iowa News; Dustin Bartholomew, Fayetteville Flyer; Courtney Cole, Excelsior Citizen. Front row, left to right: Lisa Armstrong, University of California, Berkeley; Safiyyah El-Amin, St. Louis Argus; Mary Smith-Johnson, Black Iowa News; María José Ramírez Braiz, Te Lo Cuento News; Evelyn Hsu, Maynard Institute; Fran Scarlett, Scarlett Ink Media (Photo by Todd Feeback)
According to Maynard Institute Co-Executive Director Evelyn Hsu, the cohort model fostered trust, openness and mutual support among publishers who often work in isolation. Participants quickly began exchanging candid advice, learning from one another’s experiments, and recognizing that individual success strengthened the whole group.
“What really stood out was how quickly this group came together and supported one another,” Hsu said. “These were very different newsrooms serving different communities, but they shared the same goals: to be of service, to grow sustainably and to succeed. By creating the right environment and pace, we saw individual progress turn into a sense of collective victory, where one organization’s success felt like a win for the whole group.”
Successful Impact
For the Fayetteville Flyer in Arkansas, which hired its first full-time staffer with Press Forward funding, the program led to measurable revenue gains and sharper business practices. Co-founder Dustin Bartholomew credited the cohort’s focus on goal-setting and accountability with pushing him to prioritize reader revenue. Applying lessons from the Kansas City workshop, the Flyer launched an earlier fall fundraising campaign with a more candid tone, raising more than $10,000, their largest single-day reader revenue total, with their biggest individual contribution and the highest number of new donors.
“We talked a lot about setting goals and held each other accountable to those goals,” Bartholomew said. “My focus was related to making myself concentrate on reader revenue, which is not my favorite task. Once I did, though, we had one of our most successful campaigns.”
For another participating news outlet, Te Lo Cuento News, a bilingual news outlet in Kansas City, the program provided clarification for its sustainability and positioned the newsroom for future growth.
Founder and CEO María José Ramírez Braiz said the program fundamentally shifted how she viewed the business side of journalism, helping her articulate the outlet’s value to donors and advertisers alike. Through the training, Te Lo Cuento developed a bilingual media kit tailored to both funders and local clients. As a direct result of the program, the outlet secured Lenfest Institute coaching for 2026 and entry into the Media Transformation Challenge program at Medill.
“This type of support truly makes a difference for media organizations,” she said. “Financial resources are important, but this level of preparation and individualized and group coaching is what truly helps build the future.”
Mark Glaser is a communications consultant for Press Forward, Knight Foundation, The Lenfest Institute and Tiny News Collective and was the founder and executive editor of MediaShift.org. He was formerly the director of business and program development for the New Mexico Local News Fund. He runs the Wind Power Media consultancy out of Santa Fe.